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

Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC reduced its position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 92.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,350 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 54,908 shares during the period. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $412,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Touchstone Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Touchstone Capital Inc. now owns 55,111 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,220,000 after purchasing an additional 3,162 shares during the last quarter. Regatta Capital Group LLC increased its position in Albemarle by 156.7% in the 3rd quarter. Regatta Capital Group LLC now owns 7,347 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $696,000 after acquiring an additional 4,485 shares during the period. Norway Savings Bank increased its position in Albemarle by 23.0% in the 3rd quarter. Norway Savings Bank now owns 4,764 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $451,000 after acquiring an additional 890 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in Albemarle by 32.3% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,817 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $172,000 after acquiring an additional 444 shares during the period. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt acquired a new position in Albemarle in the 3rd quarter valued at about $76,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Albemarle Price Performance

ALB stock opened at $98.25 on Thursday. Albemarle Co. has a 1 year low of $71.97 and a 1 year high of $172.09. 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’s 50 day moving average price is $89.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $103.36. The firm has a market cap of $11.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.73, a PEG ratio of 13.81 and a beta of 1.54.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its 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 negative net margin of 6.72% and a positive return on equity of 6.38%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $7.33 EPS. Albemarle’s quarterly revenue was down 39.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ALB shares. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Albemarle from $188.00 to $178.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Berenberg Bank cut Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $160.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Albemarle from $135.00 to $85.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Albemarle from $190.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Albemarle from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $117.60.

Albemarle Company 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.