Bristlecone Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Bristlecone Advisors LLC grew its position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 18.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 23,925 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,788 shares during the period. Bristlecone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $2,266,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Albemarle by 239.7% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 53,793 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,138,000 after acquiring an additional 37,958 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 22.5% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 190,526 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $25,100,000 after purchasing an additional 35,003 shares during the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC lifted its position in Albemarle by 392.6% in the second quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC now owns 7,916 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $756,000 after buying an additional 6,309 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC boosted its stake in Albemarle by 32.4% during the third quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 521,537 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $49,395,000 after buying an additional 127,549 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the first quarter valued at about $202,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Price Performance

ALB stock opened at $93.51 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $10.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.00, a PEG ratio of 13.81 and a beta of 1.54. Albemarle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $71.97 and a fifty-two week high of $153.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $91.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.77.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its 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 company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $7.33 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on ALB. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $128.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Albemarle to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Albemarle from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Albemarle from $188.00 to $178.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $135.00 to $85.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Two equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Albemarle currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.