Aigen Investment Management LP Grows Holdings in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB)

Aigen Investment Management LP grew its stake in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 357.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 24,932 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,477 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,796,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Albemarle during the 4th quarter worth $218,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Albemarle by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 177,939 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $15,317,000 after acquiring an additional 15,778 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in Albemarle by 2,151.9% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 60,800 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,234,000 after acquiring an additional 58,100 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC grew its holdings in Albemarle by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 8,380 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $721,000 after acquiring an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. grew its holdings in Albemarle by 955.5% during the 4th quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 22,989 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,979,000 after acquiring an additional 20,811 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on ALB. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Albemarle in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Mizuho set a $76.00 price objective on shares of Albemarle in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Piper Sandler set a $68.00 price target on shares of Albemarle and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Baird R W lowered shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $88.06.

Albemarle Trading Up 7.6%

Albemarle stock opened at $75.36 on Friday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $67.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $68.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.09 and a beta of 1.63. Albemarle Corporation has a 52-week low of $49.43 and a 52-week high of $113.91.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its earnings results 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.04 EPS. Albemarle’s revenue was down 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. Albemarle’s 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.