Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Coverage Initiated at Rothschild & Co Redburn

Key Points

• Rothschild & Co Redburn has initiated coverage of Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) with a buy rating and set a price target of $135.00, indicating a potential upside of 38.57% from the current price.
• Multiple research firms have varied perspectives on the stock, with UBS Group lowering its target from $89.00 to $85.00, while Zacks Research upgraded it to a strong-buy rating.
• Albemarle's stock has seen significant institutional investment, with ProShare Advisors increasing their stake by 48.5% in the second quarter, indicating strong confidence among institutional investors.

Analysts at Rothschild & Co Redburn started coverage on shares of Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage set a "buy" rating and a $135.00 price target on the specialty chemicals company's stock. Rothschild & Co Redburn's price target would indicate a potential upside of 38.57% from the company's current price.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on ALB. UBS Group lowered their target price on Albemarle from $89.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Albemarle from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Albemarle from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Albemarle from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $94.26.

Albemarle Trading Up 6.7%

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $97.43 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company's 50-day moving average price is $85.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.93. The company has a market cap of $11.47 billion, a PE ratio of -10.45 and a beta of 1.65. Albemarle has a fifty-two week low of $49.43 and a fifty-two week high of $113.91.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.83) by $0.94. The firm had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.23 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 18.61% and a negative return on equity of 1.87%. Albemarle's quarterly revenue was down 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.04 EPS. Albemarle has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Albemarle will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 48.5% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,870,110 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $179,870,000 after acquiring an additional 937,538 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 22,047.4% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 713,812 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $44,613,000 after purchasing an additional 710,589 shares in the last quarter. FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,903,000. PGGM Investments lifted its stake in Albemarle by 90.4% during the second quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 1,069,924 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $67,052,000 after purchasing an additional 507,975 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Albemarle during the second quarter worth approximately $29,482,000. 92.87% of the stock is 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.

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