Albemarle Corporation $ALB Holdings Raised by UniSuper Management Pty Ltd

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 23.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 24,450 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,570 shares during the quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,761,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its stake in Albemarle by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 39,657 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,414,000 after buying an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Albemarle by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,355 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $977,000 after buying an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service boosted its stake in Albemarle by 74.5% during the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 452 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its stake in Albemarle by 2.6% during the first quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 9,028 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $650,000 after buying an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Albemarle by 6.7% during the first quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,782 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on ALB shares. Scotiabank raised their target price on Albemarle from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Albemarle from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Albemarle from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Piper Sandler set a $68.00 target price on Albemarle and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, UBS Group raised Albemarle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $62.00 to $89.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $86.47.

Albemarle Stock Up 1.1%

NYSE ALB opened at $73.40 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $8.64 billion, a PE ratio of -7.88 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 2.31. Albemarle Corporation has a twelve month low of $49.43 and a twelve month high of $113.91. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.08.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.83) by $0.94. The business had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.87% and a negative net margin of 18.61%.Albemarle’s quarterly revenue was down 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.04 earnings per share. Albemarle has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently -17.38%.

Albemarle Profile

Albemarle Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets engineered specialty chemicals worldwide. It operates through three segments: Energy Storage, Specialties and Ketjen. The Energy Storage segment offers lithium compounds, including lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide, and lithium chloride; technical services for the handling and use of reactive lithium products; and lithium-containing by-products recycling services.