Vest Financial LLC Increases Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Vest Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 32.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 521,537 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 127,549 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $49,395,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 176.6% during the 1st 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 period. Capital World Investors purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 1st quarter worth approximately $49,007,000. PGGM Investments grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 261.6% during the 1st 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 period. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 115.7% during the 2nd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 542,200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $51,791,000 after acquiring an additional 290,862 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 22.9% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,423,897 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $187,584,000 after acquiring an additional 265,313 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALB traded up $0.47 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $95.14. The company had a trading volume of 2,082,010 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,026,809. 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 has a market cap of $11.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.60, a PEG ratio of 13.81 and a beta of 1.54. Albemarle Co. has a 12-month low of $71.97 and a 12-month high of $153.54. The company has a fifty day moving average of $89.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $102.90.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.49). The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 6.38% and a negative net margin of 6.72%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $7.33 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post 0.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. HSBC cut Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Albemarle from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Albemarle from $115.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Albemarle from $190.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on Albemarle from $135.00 to $126.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.