Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 32.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,817 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 444 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $172,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Albemarle by 239.7% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 53,793 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,138,000 after acquiring an additional 37,958 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Albemarle by 22.5% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 190,526 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $25,100,000 after acquiring an additional 35,003 shares during the period. MBB Public Markets I LLC grew its stake in Albemarle by 392.6% in the 2nd quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC now owns 7,916 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $756,000 after acquiring an additional 6,309 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in Albemarle in the 1st quarter valued at $202,000. Finally, Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC grew its stake in Albemarle by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC now owns 123,436 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $11,791,000 after acquiring an additional 9,182 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ALB shares. Robert W. Baird cut shares of Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $102.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. HSBC cut shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $124.00 to $109.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $117.60.

Albemarle Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $93.84 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.03 billion, a PE ratio of 34.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 13.81 and a beta of 1.54. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $89.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $102.72. Albemarle Co. has a 1 year low of $71.97 and a 1 year high of $153.54.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.49). The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 6.38% and a negative net margin of 6.72%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $7.33 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 0.46 EPS for the current year.

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.