Vest Financial LLC Has $60.16 Million Holdings in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Vest Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 55.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 959,978 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 342,321 shares during the quarter. Albemarle makes up 0.9% of Vest Financial LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $60,162,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. CX Institutional purchased a new position in Albemarle during the first quarter valued at approximately $93,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in Albemarle by 20.4% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 112,508 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $8,103,000 after purchasing an additional 19,099 shares in the last quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Albemarle during the first quarter valued at approximately $303,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Albemarle during the first quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Albemarle by 11.9% during the first quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,757 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,670 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Performance

ALB stock opened at $90.04 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a market capitalization of $10.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.66 and a beta of 1.65. Albemarle Corporation has a 12 month low of $49.43 and a 12 month high of $113.91. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $81.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.25.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.11 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.04 earnings per share. Albemarle’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Albemarle has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on ALB. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Albemarle from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 16th. Zacks Research raised shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. HSBC boosted their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Baird R W downgraded shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $87.35.

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.