Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Receives $96.05 Average PT from Brokerages

Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the twenty-one research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $94.24.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ALB shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $80.00 to $60.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Clarkson Capital began coverage on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a "buy" rating and a $112.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Albemarle from $133.00 to $114.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Albemarle from $85.00 to $65.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Albemarle from $109.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th.

Institutional Trading of Albemarle

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Albemarle in the fourth quarter valued at about $85,570,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,405,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Albemarle by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,594,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,256,294,000 after acquiring an additional 359,014 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 36.7% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,192,527 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $102,653,000 after buying an additional 320,150 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 6,393.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 152,394 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $10,975,000 after acquiring an additional 150,047 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company's stock.

Albemarle Stock Up 1.5 %

ALB traded up $0.91 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $60.23. The company had a trading volume of 3,470,004 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,752,655. The company has a market capitalization of $7.09 billion, a PE ratio of -5.38 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Albemarle has a one year low of $49.43 and a one year high of $137.50. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $66.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.19.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.18) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.62) by $0.44. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.72% and a negative net margin of 21.93%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Albemarle will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Albemarle's dividend payout ratio is -14.46%.

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.