Grimes & Company Inc. Increases Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Grimes & Company Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 115,061 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 2,217 shares during the quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. owned 0.10% of Albemarle worth $10,897,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ALB. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 176.6% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 1,588,986 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $209,333,000 after buying an additional 3,662,117 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 1st quarter valued at about $49,007,000. PGGM Investments raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 261.6% during the 1st quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 413,492 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $54,473,000 after buying an additional 299,148 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 115.7% during the 2nd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 542,200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $51,791,000 after buying an additional 290,862 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in Albemarle by 22.9% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,423,897 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $187,584,000 after purchasing an additional 265,313 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Albemarle Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Albemarle stock traded up $0.12 on Thursday, reaching $94.08. The company had a trading volume of 103,422 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,000,574. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $90.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $102.28. The firm has a market cap of $11.06 billion, a PE ratio of 34.17, a PEG ratio of 13.81 and a beta of 1.54. Albemarle Co. has a 52-week low of $71.97 and a 52-week high of $153.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.67.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released 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). Albemarle had a negative net margin of 6.72% and a positive return on equity of 6.38%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $7.33 earnings per share. Albemarle’s revenue was down 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $188.00 to $178.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. HSBC downgraded shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $102.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $160.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $117.60.

Albemarle Company 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.