AXQ Capital LP Makes New Investment in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

AXQ Capital LP purchased a new stake in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 4,262 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $267,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Albemarle by 10,050.0% in the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 406 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC boosted its stake in Albemarle by 7,257.1% in the 2nd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 515 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 193 shares during the period. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 248.0% during the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 689 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 491 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Down 0.8%

NYSE ALB opened at $115.94 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Albemarle Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $49.43 and a fifty-two week high of $127.07. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $96.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $78.85. The stock has a market cap of $13.65 billion, a PE ratio of -12.44 and a beta of 1.70.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.19) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.92) by $0.73. The company had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.27 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 18.61% and a negative return on equity of 1.87%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($1.55) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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 will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently -101.89%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ALB. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Albemarle in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Dbs Bank boosted their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Rothschild & Co Redburn assumed coverage on Albemarle in a report on Friday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $135.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Albemarle from $125.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Albemarle from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.04.

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.