Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Stock Price Down 5.4% - Here's What Happened

Shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) traded down 5.4% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $79.00 and last traded at $78.74. 1,985,317 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 39% from the average session volume of 3,276,255 shares. The stock had previously closed at $83.24.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ALB. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Albemarle from $85.00 to $65.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $80.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Mizuho set a $76.00 target price on Albemarle in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $91.00.

Albemarle Stock Down 0.4%

The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $64.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.89. The firm has a market cap of $9.87 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.54 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 2.11 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

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

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. Albemarle's payout ratio is presently -14.57%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ALB. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 29,685 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $2,555,000 after buying an additional 973 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Albemarle by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,594,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,256,294,000 after purchasing an additional 359,014 shares during the last quarter. Korea Investment CORP increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 29.6% in the 4th quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 100,478 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $8,649,000 after purchasing an additional 22,935 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 242,716 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $21,308,000 after purchasing an additional 9,967 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 19,880 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,711,000 after purchasing an additional 1,334 shares in the last quarter. 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.