Krane Funds Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

by · The Markets Daily

Krane Funds Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB – Free Report) by 7.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,672 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 2,329 shares during the quarter. Albemarle comprises 0.1% of Krane Funds Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Krane Funds Advisors LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $3,189,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Albemarle by 239.7% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 53,793 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,138,000 after buying an additional 37,958 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 22.5% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 190,526 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $25,100,000 after purchasing an additional 35,003 shares in the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC raised its stake in Albemarle by 392.6% in the second quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC now owns 7,916 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $756,000 after purchasing an additional 6,309 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC lifted its position in Albemarle by 32.4% during the third quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 521,537 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $49,395,000 after purchasing an additional 127,549 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in Albemarle in the 1st quarter worth approximately $202,000. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ALB. KeyCorp cut their price objective on Albemarle from $151.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. Berenberg Bank downgraded Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $160.00 to $83.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Albemarle from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Albemarle from $128.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Baird R W downgraded shares of Albemarle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Albemarle presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $117.60.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on ALB

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $93.84 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $89.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $102.72. Albemarle Co. has a 52-week low of $71.97 and a 52-week high of $153.54. The company has a market cap of $11.03 billion, a PE ratio of 34.12, a PEG ratio of 13.81 and a beta of 1.54.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.49). The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the firm posted $7.33 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post 0.46 EPS for the current year.

About Albemarle

(Free Report)

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.

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