Albemarle Corporation $ALB Stock Position Increased by Pinnacle Associates Ltd.

Key Points

• Pinnacle Associates increased its Albemarle stake by 58.8% in the third quarter, bringing its holdings to 56,729 shares valued at approximately $6 million. Institutional investors collectively own 92.87% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive but price targets have been reduced: Albemarle carries a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating from 26 analysts, with an average target of $176.83.
• Albemarle shares opened at $92.52, near their 52-week low of $88.01 and well below the 52-week high of $221.00. Its latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with earnings of $3.75 per share and revenue of $1.74 billion.

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) by 58.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 56,729 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 21,012 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.'s holdings in Albemarle were worth $6,001,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 243.2% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 155,693 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $16,469,000 after purchasing an additional 110,326 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in Albemarle by 2,981.1% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 733,793 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $77,621,000 after buying an additional 709,977 shares in the last quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Albemarle by 29.7% during the 3rd quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,519 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $372,000 after buying an additional 805 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in Albemarle by 1,565.3% during 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 buying an additional 55,881 shares during the period. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its stake in Albemarle by 15.9% during 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 buying an additional 3,322 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Argus dropped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $230.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Rothschild & Co Redburn decreased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $188.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $157.00 to $129.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Albemarle from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Mizuho raised Albemarle from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Albemarle has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $176.83.

Albemarle Trading Down 2.1%

Albemarle stock opened at $92.52 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $10.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 342.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.36. Albemarle Corporation has a 1 year low of $88.01 and a 1 year high of $221.00. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $116.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $143.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 2.09.

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

Albemarle Profile

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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