Primecap Management Co. CA Decreases Stock Holdings in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Primecap Management Co. CA reduced its position in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 1.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,255,909 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 49,930 shares during the quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $263,989,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ALB. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Albemarle in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $138,723,000. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 48.5% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,870,110 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $179,870,000 after acquiring an additional 937,538 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Albemarle by 22,047.4% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 713,812 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $44,613,000 after acquiring an additional 710,589 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Albemarle in the second quarter valued at $29,482,000. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 1,278.8% in the third quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 440,608 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $35,725,000 after acquiring an additional 408,652 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on ALB. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Albemarle from $200.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Argus increased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $140.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Albemarle from $147.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Scotiabank upgraded Albemarle from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $200.00 in a report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Albemarle from $109.00 to $207.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.04.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of Albemarle stock opened at $195.64 on Thursday. Albemarle Corporation has a 1 year low of $49.43 and a 1 year high of $206.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $165.11 and its 200 day moving average is $121.27. The stock has a market cap of $23.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -34.02, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 1.57.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.53) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.40) by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 10.74% and a positive return on equity of 0.41%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($1.09) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Profile

Albemarle Corporation is a leading global specialty chemicals company primarily engaged in the production and distribution of lithium, bromine, and catalysts. Its lithium segment supplies key components used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics, and grid storage systems. The company’s bromine specialty products serve a wide range of industries, including oil and gas drilling fluids, fire safety solutions, and water treatment. In its catalysts division, Albemarle provides products for petroleum refining, chemical processing and emissions control.

Founded in 1994 as a spin-off from Ethyl Corporation, Albemarle has grown through strategic acquisitions and capacity expansions to become one of the world’s foremost chemical producers.