Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Shares Gap Up - Here's What Happened

Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $78.79, but opened at $82.51. Albemarle shares last traded at $84.46, with a volume of 3,374,206 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. TD Securities decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $65.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler set a $68.00 price target on Albemarle and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Albemarle from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $95.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Mizuho set a $76.00 price target on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $91.00.

Albemarle Price Performance

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

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

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. Albemarle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -14.57%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ALB. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Albemarle by 3.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 973 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,594,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,256,294,000 after acquiring an additional 359,014 shares in the last quarter. Korea Investment CORP increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 29.6% during the fourth quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 100,478 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $8,649,000 after acquiring an additional 22,935 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 4.3% during 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 boosted its stake in Albemarle by 7.2% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,334 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company's stock.

About Albemarle

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.