Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the twenty-one analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $94.57.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ALB. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $77.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $122.00 to $102.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Albemarle from $109.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Albemarle from $150.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in Albemarle by 340.6% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 304 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 606.5% during the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 325 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the period. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the first quarter worth about $32,000. First Community Trust NA increased its holdings in Albemarle by 55.0% during the 4th quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 400 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Finally, Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new position in Albemarle during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Albemarle Stock Performance

ALB traded up $0.77 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $59.32. The stock had a trading volume of 5,228,640 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,755,899. Albemarle has a 1 year low of $49.43 and a 1 year high of $137.50. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $67.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.81. The stock has a market cap of $6.98 billion, a PE ratio of -5.30 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 (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.62) by $0.44. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 21.93% and a negative return on equity of 1.72%. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Albemarle will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Albemarle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -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.