Primecap Management Co. CA Cuts Stock Position in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Primecap Management Co. CA trimmed its holdings in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 1.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,255,909 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 49,930 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA owned about 2.77% of Albemarle worth $263,989,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Albemarle during the third quarter worth about $138,723,000. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 48.5% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,870,110 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $179,870,000 after purchasing an additional 937,538 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 22,047.4% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 713,812 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $44,613,000 after purchasing an additional 710,589 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the second quarter valued at $29,482,000. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 1,278.8% during the 3rd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 440,608 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $35,725,000 after buying an additional 408,652 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Albemarle Stock Up 4.7%

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $195.64 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -34.02, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.44. Albemarle Corporation has a one year low of $49.43 and a one year high of $206.00. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $165.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $121.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 1.57.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.53) earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted ($1.09) EPS. Albemarle’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted 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. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Monday, December 29th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $145.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $195.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.04.

Albemarle Profile

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.