Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) Receives $91.62 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Hold" by the twenty-one brokerages that are currently covering the company, 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 objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $91.62.

Several research firms have commented on ALB. KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $102.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $86.00 to $64.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $85.00 to $65.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $77.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Albemarle to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th.

Albemarle Stock Performance

NYSE ALB traded down $2.68 on Wednesday, hitting $56.72. The stock had a trading volume of 5,537,287 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,858,353. Albemarle has a one year low of $49.43 and a one year high of $113.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market cap of $6.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.10 and a beta of 1.61. The company's 50-day moving average is $58.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.77.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.18) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.62) by $0.44. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 22.39% and a negative return on equity of 1.92%. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.26 EPS. Albemarle's quarterly revenue was down 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Albemarle will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Albemarle's dividend payout ratio is presently -14.57%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albemarle

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 340.6% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 304 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. National Pension Service lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 74.5% in the 1st quarter. National Pension Service now owns 452 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company's stock.

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.