Canal Capital Management LLC Buys 6,666 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Canal Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 38.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,812 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,666 shares during the period. Canal Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $2,255,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. First Community Trust NA bought a new position in shares of Albemarle during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. CVA Family Office LLC raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 610.0% in the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 284 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC grew its position in Albemarle by 45.0% during the first quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 332 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup cut their target price on Albemarle from $137.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $85.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $128.00 to $103.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Albemarle from $124.00 to $109.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Baird R W cut shares of Albemarle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $117.30.

Albemarle Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $95.15 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $91.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $102.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.75. 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 PE ratio of 34.61, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.49). The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 6.72% and a positive return on equity of 6.38%. Albemarle’s revenue was down 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $7.33 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post 0.46 EPS 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.