SCS Capital Management LLC Purchases New Shares in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

SCS Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 40,910 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,963,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ALB. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its stake in Albemarle by 48.1% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 3,998 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,298 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Albemarle by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 602,304 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $51,846,000 after purchasing an additional 119,026 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth purchased a new stake in Albemarle in the fourth quarter worth $5,532,000. Investment Management Corp of Ontario increased its stake in Albemarle by 170.4% in the fourth quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 10,580 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $911,000 after purchasing an additional 6,667 shares during the period. Finally, Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Albemarle by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,748 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $323,000 after purchasing an additional 622 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Price Performance

ALB opened at $72.69 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $76.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.04. Albemarle Corporation has a 1 year low of $49.43 and a 1 year high of $113.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 1.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.55 billion, a PE ratio of -7.80 and a beta of 1.64.

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 the consensus estimate of ($0.83) by $0.94. Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.87% and a negative net margin of 18.61%.The company had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $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. Research analysts anticipate that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is -17.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Albemarle from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Albemarle from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Piper Sandler set a $68.00 price target on Albemarle and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Mizuho set a $76.00 price target on Albemarle in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $74.00 price target on Albemarle and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $86.47.

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.