Marshall Financial Group LLC Takes $205,000 Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Marshall Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,165 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 20,648 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,720,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 45.0% during the 1st quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 332 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 2,655 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $350,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Foster Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 3,047 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,309 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $568,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ALB. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Albemarle from $124.00 to $109.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Albemarle from $128.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Albemarle from $188.00 to $178.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Hsbc Global Res raised Albemarle to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Albemarle from $128.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $117.60.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB opened at $95.08 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $103.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.17 billion, a PE ratio of 34.57, a PEG 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 $153.54.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.49). The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 6.72% and a positive return on equity of 6.38%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 39.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $7.33 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.