Brokerages Set Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) Target Price at $91.29

Shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the twenty-one research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, thirteen have issued a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $91.29.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ALB shares. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $102.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $80.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $80.00 to $60.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $75.00 to $65.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $77.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of Albemarle stock traded down $3.20 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $71.07. The company had a trading volume of 4,090,339 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,884,677. The company has a current ratio of 2.11, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market capitalization of $8.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.39 and a beta of 1.63. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.49. Albemarle has a 1-year low of $49.43 and a 1-year high of $113.91.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.18) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.62) by $0.44. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 22.39% and a negative return on equity of 1.92%. Albemarle's revenue for the quarter was down 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Albemarle will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. Albemarle's payout ratio is currently -14.57%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albemarle

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Albemarle in the 4th quarter valued at $39,405,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Albemarle in the 1st quarter valued at $26,836,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake 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 buying an additional 359,014 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Albemarle by 28.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,706 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $110,814,000 after buying an additional 343,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 320,150 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.