Vontobel Holding Ltd. Reduces Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. reduced its stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 41,256 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 2,714 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $3,907,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 239.7% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 53,793 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,138,000 after purchasing an additional 37,958 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Albemarle by 22.5% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 190,526 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $25,100,000 after acquiring an additional 35,003 shares during the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC raised its holdings in Albemarle by 392.6% in the 2nd quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC now owns 7,916 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $756,000 after acquiring an additional 6,309 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 1st quarter worth $202,000. Finally, Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 8.0% in the second quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC now owns 123,436 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $11,791,000 after purchasing an additional 9,182 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Albemarle stock opened at $95.08 on Friday. Albemarle Co. has a 12-month low of $71.97 and a 12-month high of $153.54. 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 capitalization of $11.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 13.81 and a beta of 1.54. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $89.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $103.07.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.49). Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 6.38% and a negative net margin of 6.72%. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $7.33 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 39.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post 0.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Albemarle from $115.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Scotiabank decreased their target price 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. HSBC downgraded shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $190.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Albemarle from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.