Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Sets New 52-Week High - Here's Why

Key Points

• Albemarle hit a new 52-week high, trading as high as $210.75 (last ~ $209.66) on heavy volume, backed by analyst upgrades including UBS raising its target to $230 and a MarketBeat consensus of "Moderate Buy" (consensus target $172.60).
• The company reported a revenue beat of $1.43B (+15.9% YoY) but missed quarterly EPS (‑$0.53 vs. est. ‑$0.40) and has a negative net margin, while continuing to pay a $0.405 quarterly dividend (≈0.8% yield).
• CEO J. Kent Masters sold 11,783 shares in March, institutional investors own about 92.87% of the stock, and Albemarle has a market cap of roughly $24.8B with a negative trailing P/E.

Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $210.75 and last traded at $209.6560, with a volume of 2980717 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $185.38.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Argus raised their price target on shares of Albemarle from $140.00 to $185.00 in a report on Monday, February 23rd. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Albemarle from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Scotiabank raised Albemarle from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $210.00 target price on Albemarle and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Albemarle currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $172.60.

Albemarle Trading Up 13.4%

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $171.93 and a 200 day moving average of $143.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market cap of $24.79 billion, a PE ratio of -36.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.43.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.53) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.40) by ($0.13). Albemarle had a negative net margin of 10.74% and a positive return on equity of 0.41%. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.09) earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. Albemarle's payout ratio is -28.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 11,783 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.81, for a total value of $2,012,654.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 134,628 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,995,808.68. The trade was a 8.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Albemarle by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,468 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $349,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC now owns 5,769 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $816,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,592 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $508,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 782 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 2,423 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $343,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company's stock.

About Albemarle

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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