IFM Investors Pty Ltd Grows Stock Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd raised its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 24,945 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 2,252 shares during the quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $2,363,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ALB. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 5.5% during the first quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 5,501 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $725,000 after buying an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 0.6% during the first quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 38,262 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,041,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 18.0% in the 1st quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,078 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Hedeker Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Hedeker Wealth LLC now owns 6,478 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $853,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 348,544 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $45,917,000 after purchasing an additional 6,425 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Albemarle Price Performance

Albemarle stock opened at $93.51 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $91.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $101.59. Albemarle Co. has a 1 year low of $71.97 and a 1 year high of $153.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.00, a P/E/G ratio of 13.81 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.67.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly 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 negative net margin of 6.72% and a positive return on equity of 6.38%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $7.33 EPS. Albemarle’s revenue was down 39.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on ALB. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $137.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $85.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Albemarle from $188.00 to $178.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Albemarle from $124.00 to $109.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $117.30.

About Albemarle

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.