Cromwell Holdings LLC Acquires 148 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Cromwell Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 61.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 387 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $37,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ALB. WFA Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in Albemarle in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. First Community Trust NA bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. CVA Family Office LLC boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 610.0% during the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 284 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the period. Eastern Bank bought a new position in shares of Albemarle during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC raised its position in Albemarle by 2,142.1% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 426 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of ALB opened at $93.51 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.99 billion, a PE ratio of 34.00, a PEG ratio of 13.81 and a beta of 1.54. 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $91.35 and its 200-day moving average is $101.96. Albemarle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $71.97 and a fifty-two week high of $153.54.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 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 quarter last year, the business earned $7.33 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post 0.46 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Albemarle from $85.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 19th. HSBC lowered shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $128.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Berenberg Bank downgraded 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 report on Wednesday, July 31st. 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $117.30.

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.