Albemarle Corporation $ALB Stock Acquired by New Mexico Educational Retirement Board

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 316.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,562 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,662 shares during the quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $2,598,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ALB. Sigma Planning Corp lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 2.3% in the first quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 2,952 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $530,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 27,452 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,928,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Albemarle by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 11,664 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,082,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Cadence Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Albemarle by 1.8% during the first quarter. Cadence Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,982 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $894,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in Albemarle by 7.0% during the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,584 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $214,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Recent Albemarle Headlines

Investors following ALB have been watching these headlines:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research upgraded Albemarle from “strong sell” to “hold,” a modest improvement in its view of the shares. Read more about the Zacks Research upgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Scotiabank cut its EPS forecasts to $10.36 for FY2026 from $11.64 and to $9.98 for FY2027 from $14.15. The lower projections may weigh on sentiment, although the bank maintained its “Sector Outperform” rating and $165 price target. Read more about analyst estimates for Albemarle
• Negative Sentiment: UBS Group and Morgan Stanley each cut their price targets for Albemarle, adding to concerns about the stock’s near-term upside. The reports did not specify the revised targets in the headlines. Read more about UBS’s price target cut Read more about Morgan Stanley’s price target cut

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays cut their price target on Albemarle from $109.00 to $95.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings raised Albemarle from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 4th. Mizuho raised shares of Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Albemarle from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of Albemarle from $129.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 6th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.05.

Albemarle Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of ALB opened at $96.14 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.34. Albemarle Corporation has a one year low of $89.77 and a one year high of $221.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 2.34. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $105.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $146.54.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.05. Albemarle had a return on equity of 14.91% and a net margin of 10.40%. The company had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.19) EPS. Albemarle’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Albemarle Corporation will post 10.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 4th. Investors of record on Friday, December 18th will be paid a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 18th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is 39.61%.

About Albemarle

Albemarle Corporation is a specialty chemicals company that produces lithium, bromine and refining catalysts. Its products serve industries including energy storage, transportation, electronics, petroleum refining and pharmaceuticals. The company supplies lithium compounds used in rechargeable batteries and other applications. It also makes bromine-based products for uses such as flame retardants and water treatment, along with catalysts used in refining petroleum. Albemarle traces its history to 1887 and is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.