QRG Capital Management Inc. Acquires 755 Shares of Albemarle Corporation $ALB

QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 25.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,688 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 755 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $231,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. National Pension Service raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 74.5% in the 1st quarter. National Pension Service now owns 452 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $47,000. Evermay Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 84.1% during the 1st quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 670 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 54.4% during the 1st quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 727 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Baird R W lowered shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $89.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $87.35.

Albemarle Stock Down 6.7%

ALB stock opened at $90.04 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $81.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.25. The company has a market capitalization of $10.60 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.66 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 1.47. Albemarle Corporation has a 12 month low of $49.43 and a 12 month high of $113.91.

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

Albemarle Announces Dividend

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

About Albemarle

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.