709,977 Albemarle Corporation $ALB Shares Acquired by Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 2,981.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 733,793 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 709,977 shares during the quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $77,621,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Revisor Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 29.7% during the 3rd quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,519 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $372,000 after purchasing an additional 805 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its holdings in Albemarle by 1,565.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 59,451 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $6,289,000 after purchasing an additional 55,881 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its holdings in Albemarle by 15.9% in the 3rd quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 24,241 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,564,000 after purchasing an additional 3,322 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in Albemarle by 358.7% in the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 9,073 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $960,000 after purchasing an additional 7,095 shares during the period. Finally, 1834 Investment Advisors Co. raised its position in Albemarle by 49.3% in the third quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. now owns 5,799 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $613,000 after purchasing an additional 1,916 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 research analysts have commented on ALB shares. Zacks Research cut Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Albemarle from $225.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Albemarle from $244.00 to $211.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut their price objective on Albemarle from $188.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Argus cut their price objective on Albemarle from $230.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.00.

Albemarle Trading Down 1.4%

NYSE ALB opened at $94.39 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 2.09. The firm has a market cap of $11.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 349.62, a PEG ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.36. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $117.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $143.72. Albemarle Corporation has a one year low of $88.01 and a one year high of $221.00.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.55. Albemarle had a net margin of 3.09% and a return on equity of 10.96%. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.11 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Albemarle Corporation will post 11.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Albemarle

Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB) is a global specialty chemicals company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company develops, manufactures, and markets engineered chemicals used in energy storage, transportation, refining, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, consumer products, and other industrial applications.

Albemarle is one of the world’s major producers of lithium and supplies lithium compounds, including lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide, for use in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics, and grid energy-storage systems.