Albemarle Corporation $ALB Holdings Raised by DAVENPORT & Co LLC

DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 20.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 142,876 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,888 shares during the quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC owned 0.12% of Albemarle worth $8,956,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,672,272 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,056,697,000 after purchasing an additional 77,773 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Albemarle by 28.7% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,706 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $110,814,000 after acquiring an additional 343,210 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 17.4% in the first quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 1,167,520 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $84,085,000 after acquiring an additional 173,441 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Albemarle by 3.1% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,072,921 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $77,272,000 after acquiring an additional 31,951 shares during the period. Finally, PGGM Investments grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 90.4% during the second quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 1,069,924 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $67,052,000 after purchasing an additional 507,975 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Up 4.4%

ALB stock opened at $92.08 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $79.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.81. The company has a market capitalization of $10.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.88 and a beta of 1.65. Albemarle Corporation has a 52 week low of $49.43 and a 52 week high of $113.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

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

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th were paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 12th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -17.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ALB. Scotiabank raised their price target on Albemarle from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. HSBC raised their target price on Albemarle from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $78.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $87.47.

Albemarle Company 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.