3,405 Shares in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Purchased by Cadent Capital Advisors LLC

Cadent Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,405 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $322,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ALB. WFA Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. First Community Trust NA acquired a new position in Albemarle during the second quarter worth $25,000. CVA Family Office LLC boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 610.0% during the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 284 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the period. First Financial Corp IN acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the first quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 2,142.1% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 426 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 407 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on ALB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Albemarle from $115.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 19th. Baird R W lowered shares of Albemarle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $102.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $128.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, HSBC cut Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Two 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $117.60.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB stock opened at $95.14 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $89.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $102.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.67. Albemarle Co. has a 1 year low of $71.97 and a 1 year high of $153.54. The firm has a market cap of $11.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.60, a PEG ratio of 13.81 and a beta of 1.54.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $7.33 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 39.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current 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.