Realta Investment Advisors Decreases Stock Position in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Realta Investment Advisors cut its holdings in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 14,196 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 769 shares during the quarter. Realta Investment Advisors’ holdings in Albemarle were worth $890,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ALB. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,355 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $977,000 after buying an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 6,393.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 152,394 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $10,975,000 after buying an additional 150,047 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 15.9% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 240,937 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $17,352,000 after purchasing an additional 33,074 shares in the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 21.9% in the 1st quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,226 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $232,000 after purchasing an additional 580 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Epiq Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 11.7% in the 1st quarter. Epiq Partners LLC now owns 25,933 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,868,000 after purchasing an additional 2,716 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Albemarle Price Performance

ALB opened at $88.06 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $79.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 2.31. Albemarle Corporation has a 1 year low of $49.43 and a 1 year high of $113.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.36 billion, a PE ratio of -9.45 and a beta of 1.65.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.04 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Albemarle has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Albemarle from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Albemarle in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Baird R W lowered shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. HSBC upped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Albemarle in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $86.72.

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.