Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Robert W. Baird Analyst Says

Key Points

• Robert W. Baird has raised Albemarle's price target from $58.00 to $68.00, maintaining an "underperform" rating which suggests a 19.96% potential downside from the current stock price.
• Albemarle's quarterly earnings exceeded industry expectations, reporting $0.11 earnings per share against a consensus estimate of ($0.83), while revenue was $1.33 billion, surpassing expectations of $1.23 billion.
• Institutional investors have been actively buying shares, with some like Hantz Financial Services Inc. increasing their positions by 10,050.0% in the second quarter, reflecting growing confidence in Albemarle's potential.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) had its price target boosted by research analysts at Robert W. Baird from $58.00 to $68.00 in a report released on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has an "underperform" rating on the specialty chemicals company's stock. Robert W. Baird's price objective would suggest a potential downside of 14.59% from the company's current price.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Wall Street Zen raised Albemarle from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $74.00 price objective on Albemarle and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Piper Sandler set a $68.00 price objective on Albemarle and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Albemarle from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, UBS Group raised Albemarle from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $86.47.

Albemarle Price Performance

ALB traded down $5.30 during trading on Friday, reaching $79.62. The stock had a trading volume of 4,037,775 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,549,491. The stock has a market cap of $9.37 billion, a PE ratio of -8.54 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 2.31. Albemarle has a one year low of $49.43 and a one year high of $113.91. The business has a 50-day moving average of $74.29 and a 200-day moving average of $68.08.

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

Institutional Trading of Albemarle

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ALB. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 10,050.0% in the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 406 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 402 shares during the period. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. purchased a new stake in Albemarle in the first quarter worth about $32,000. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 7,257.1% in the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 515 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 508 shares during the period. National Pension Service lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 74.5% in the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 452 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the period. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Albemarle in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.