IFM Investors Pty Ltd Increases Stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd raised its position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 9.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 24,945 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,252 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $2,363,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 5,501 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $725,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 38,262 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,041,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the period. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 18.0% during the 1st quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,078 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $274,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the period. Hedeker Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Hedeker Wealth LLC now owns 6,478 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $853,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 348,544 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $45,917,000 after acquiring an additional 6,425 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on ALB. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Albemarle from $190.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Bank of America reduced their price target on Albemarle from $135.00 to $126.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. HSBC lowered Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Albemarle to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $137.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Albemarle presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $117.30.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of Albemarle stock opened at $93.51 on Monday. Albemarle Co. has a one year low of $71.97 and a one year high of $153.54. The company has a market cap of $10.99 billion, a PE ratio of 34.00, a P/E/G ratio of 13.81 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.67. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $91.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $101.59.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.49). Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 6.38% and a negative net margin of 6.72%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $7.33 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 39.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post 0.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.