Highland Capital Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Highland Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,910 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 950 shares during the quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,696,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in Albemarle in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. First Community Trust NA purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle during the second quarter worth about $25,000. CVA Family Office LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 610.0% during the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 284 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 61.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 387 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALB has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $190.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. 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 research note on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Albemarle from $124.00 to $109.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Albemarle from $85.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Albemarle from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Two 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $117.30.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB opened at $93.51 on Friday. Albemarle Co. has a 12-month low of $71.97 and a 12-month high of $153.54. The stock has a market cap of $10.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.00, a PEG ratio of 13.81 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a 50-day moving average of $91.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $101.77.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $7.33 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 0.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.