Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) Given Average Rating of "Reduce" by Analysts

Key Points

• Albemarle Corporation has received an average rating of "Reduce" from analysts, with five sell ratings, nine hold ratings, and three buy ratings among the seventeen brokerages covering the stock.
• The company's latest quarterly earnings report showed a revenue of $1.33 billion, beating expectations, though the earnings per share was only $0.11 compared to the consensus estimate of ($0.83).
• Albemarle recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.405, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 2.4%, with an ex-dividend date on September 12th.

Shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Reduce" from the seventeen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $88.0556.

A number of research firms have weighed in on ALB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Albemarle from $80.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $85.00 to $64.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Baird R W lowered shares of Albemarle from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $85.00 to $65.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albemarle

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Albemarle by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,672,272 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,056,697,000 after purchasing an additional 77,773 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,990,762 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $171,365,000 after purchasing an additional 25,207 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 28.7% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,706 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $110,814,000 after purchasing an additional 343,210 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,432,153 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $123,280,000 after buying an additional 8,243 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,290,797 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $111,112,000 after buying an additional 139,600 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company's stock.

Albemarle Stock Down 1.4%

Albemarle stock opened at $67.30 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.67. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Albemarle has a 1-year low of $49.43 and a 1-year high of $113.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.22 and a beta of 1.63.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.83) by $0.94. Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.87% and a negative net margin of 18.61%. The company had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.04 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Albemarle will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. Albemarle's payout ratio is presently -17.38%.

About Albemarle

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.

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