Krane Funds Advisors LLC Sells 3,387 Shares of Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Krane Funds Advisors LLC lowered its position in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 22,879 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 3,387 shares during the period. Krane Funds Advisors LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,855,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 25.5% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,223 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 654 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its position in Albemarle by 26.2% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 4,798 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 996 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association bought a new stake in Albemarle in the first quarter worth $208,000. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Albemarle during the first quarter valued at about $411,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 0.7% during the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 22,798 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,496,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ALB shares. HSBC raised Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, January 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Albemarle from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Berenberg Bank set a $153.00 target price on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $195.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $145.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Albemarle has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.24.

Albemarle Stock Up 5.4%

Shares of Albemarle stock opened at $177.51 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Albemarle Corporation has a 12-month low of $49.43 and a 12-month high of $195.68. The company has a market cap of $20.92 billion, a P/E ratio of -30.87, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.44. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $162.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $119.96.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.53) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.40) by ($0.13). Albemarle had a negative net margin of 10.74% and a positive return on equity of 0.41%. 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 firm posted ($1.09) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

About Albemarle

Albemarle Corporation is a leading global specialty chemicals company primarily engaged in the production and distribution of lithium, bromine, and catalysts. Its lithium segment supplies key components used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics, and grid storage systems. The company’s bromine specialty products serve a wide range of industries, including oil and gas drilling fluids, fire safety solutions, and water treatment. In its catalysts division, Albemarle provides products for petroleum refining, chemical processing and emissions control.

Founded in 1994 as a spin-off from Ethyl Corporation, Albemarle has grown through strategic acquisitions and capacity expansions to become one of the world’s foremost chemical producers.