Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC Trims Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 92.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,350 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 54,908 shares during the quarter. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $412,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. First Community Trust NA purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 610.0% during the 2nd 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 during the period. First Financial Corp IN acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 2,142.1% during the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 426 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of Albemarle stock opened at $98.25 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $89.06 and a 200-day moving average of $103.36. 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 $11.55 billion, a PE ratio of 35.73, a P/E/G ratio of 13.81 and a beta of 1.54. Albemarle Co. has a 1-year low of $71.97 and a 1-year high of $172.09.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 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 the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $7.33 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post 0.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on ALB shares. KeyCorp dropped 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. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Albemarle from $135.00 to $126.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Robert W. Baird downgraded Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $102.00 to $85.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Albemarle from $128.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Albemarle has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $117.60.

Albemarle 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.