Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Given New $200.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Key Points

• Wells Fargo raised its price target to $200 (from $165) and maintained an "equal weight" rating; the Street consensus target is $187 with 13 Buys, 12 Holds and 2 Sells.
• Albemarle beat Q earnings expectations, reporting $2.95 EPS vs. $1.24 expected and $1.43B revenue (up 32.7% YoY), though the company still showed a negative net margin of 5%.
• Shares traded at $195.25 (down ~1.6%), valuing the company at about $23.02B with 92.87% institutional ownership, and CEO J. Kent Masters disclosed selling 11,783 shares in March.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) had its price objective lifted by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $165.00 to $200.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "equal weight" rating on the specialty chemicals company's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's target price suggests a potential upside of 2.43% from the company's current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on Albemarle from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Zacks Research lowered Albemarle from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Albemarle from $216.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Albemarle from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Albemarle from $170.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $187.00.

Albemarle Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of ALB stock traded down $3.10 on Friday, reaching $195.25. 547,553 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,569,605. Albemarle has a 52 week low of $53.70 and a 52 week high of $221.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.02 billion, a PE ratio of -57.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.36. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $179.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $154.41.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.24 by $1.71. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 5.20% and a negative net margin of 5.00%.Albemarle's revenue was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.18) EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Albemarle will post 8.72 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Albemarle

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 11,783 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.81, for a total value of $2,012,654.23. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 134,628 shares in the company, valued at $22,995,808.68. The trade was a 8.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Earnest Partners LLC grew its stake in Albemarle by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,630,394 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $230,603,000 after buying an additional 207,770 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Albemarle during the 3rd quarter worth $138,723,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Albemarle by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,475,832 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $119,710,000 after buying an additional 52,698 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Albemarle by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,263,734 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $102,464,000 after buying an additional 22,856 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Albemarle by 57.7% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,241,106 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $175,542,000 after buying an additional 453,881 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Albemarle Company Profile

Albemarle Corporation is a leading global specialty chemicals company primarily engaged in the production and distribution of lithium, bromine, and catalysts. Its lithium segment supplies key components used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics, and grid storage systems. The company's bromine specialty products serve a wide range of industries, including oil and gas drilling fluids, fire safety solutions, and water treatment. In its catalysts division, Albemarle provides products for petroleum refining, chemical processing and emissions control.

Founded in 1994 as a spin-off from Ethyl Corporation, Albemarle has grown through strategic acquisitions and capacity expansions to become one of the world's foremost chemical producers.

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