Albemarle Corporation $ALB Stock Acquired by Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.

Key Points

• Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its Albemarle position by 2,981.1% in the third quarter, acquiring 709,977 additional shares and bringing its holdings to 733,793 shares valued at approximately $77.6 million.
• Institutional investors own approximately 92.87% of Albemarle’s outstanding stock, with several other funds also increasing their positions during the quarter.
• Analysts maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with an average price target of $179, despite recent target-price cuts; Albemarle’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with $3.75 in EPS and $1.74 billion in revenue.

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) by 2,981.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 733,793 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 709,977 shares during the quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. owned about 0.62% of Albemarle worth $77,621,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ALB. Revisor Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 29.7% during the third quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,519 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $372,000 after purchasing an additional 805 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its stake in Albemarle by 1,565.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 59,451 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $6,289,000 after purchasing an additional 55,881 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its stake in Albemarle by 15.9% in the 3rd quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 24,241 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $2,564,000 after purchasing an additional 3,322 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 358.7% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 9,073 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $960,000 after purchasing an additional 7,095 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1834 Investment Advisors Co. lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 49.3% in the 3rd quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. now owns 5,799 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $613,000 after purchasing an additional 1,916 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on ALB. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $225.00 to $185.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Zacks Research cut shares of Albemarle from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Friday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $160.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Monday, October 12th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $109.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Albemarle from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Albemarle presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $179.00.

Albemarle Price Performance

ALB stock opened at $94.39 on Thursday. Albemarle Corporation has a 52-week low of $88.01 and a 52-week high of $221.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market cap of $11.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 349.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.36. The business has a fifty day moving average of $117.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $143.72.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.55. Albemarle had a return on equity of 10.96% and a net margin of 3.09%. The business had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.11 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Albemarle Corporation will post 11.19 earnings per share for the current year.

About Albemarle

Albemarle Corporation NYSE: ALB is a global specialty chemicals company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company develops, manufactures, and markets engineered chemicals used in energy storage, transportation, refining, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, consumer products, and other industrial applications.

Albemarle is one of the world's major producers of lithium and supplies lithium compounds, including lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide, for use in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics, and grid energy-storage systems.

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