Albemarle Corporation $ALB Shares Bought by Pinnacle Associates Ltd.

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its position in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 58.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 56,729 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 21,012 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $6,001,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ALB. Primecap Management Co. CA acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the second quarter valued at approximately $358,101,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in Albemarle in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $131,049,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Albemarle during the 2nd quarter valued at $103,268,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in Albemarle by 2,981.1% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 733,793 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $77,621,000 after purchasing an additional 709,977 shares during the period. Finally, Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in Albemarle during the 2nd quarter valued at $78,121,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on ALB shares. Zacks Research cut Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Mizuho raised Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Albemarle from $225.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, Argus lowered their target price on Albemarle from $230.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.83.

Albemarle Stock Down 2.1%

Shares of Albemarle stock opened at $92.52 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $10.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 342.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.35. Albemarle Corporation has a 52-week low of $88.01 and a 52-week high of $221.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $116.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $143.12.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.55. Albemarle had a return on equity of 10.96% and a net margin of 3.09%. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.11 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post 11.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Albemarle

Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB) is a global specialty chemicals company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company develops, manufactures, and markets engineered chemicals used in energy storage, transportation, refining, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, consumer products, and other industrial applications.

Albemarle is one of the world’s major producers of lithium and supplies lithium compounds, including lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide, for use in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics, and grid energy-storage systems.