Short Interest in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Drops By 10.9%

Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 12,220,000 shares, a drop of 10.9% from the September 15th total of 13,710,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,970,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.1 days.

Albemarle Price Performance

ALB stock traded down $3.86 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $95.74. 2,644,694 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,037,514. Albemarle has a one year low of $71.97 and a one year high of $172.09. The stock has a market cap of $11.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.81, a P/E/G ratio of 13.81 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $88.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $103.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $7.33 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Albemarle will post 0.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ALB. Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 176.6% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 1,588,986 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $209,333,000 after acquiring an additional 3,662,117 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors bought a new position in shares of Albemarle in the first quarter worth about $49,007,000. PGGM Investments raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 261.6% in the first quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 413,492 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $54,473,000 after acquiring an additional 299,148 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 115.7% during the second quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 542,200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $51,791,000 after buying an additional 290,862 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 22.9% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,423,897 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $187,584,000 after buying an additional 265,313 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on ALB shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 16th. HSBC downgraded shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Baird R W lowered shares of Albemarle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $137.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.