Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Hold Rating

Key Points

• Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) received an upgrade from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating by Wall Street Zen, reflecting a potentially more favorable outlook for the stock.
• The company's recent quarterly earnings showed earnings per share of $0.11, surpassing the consensus estimate of ($0.83), while revenue decreased by 7.0% year-over-year.
• Institutional investors own 92.87% of Albemarle’s stock, indicating strong interest from larger financial entities, with significant increases in stakes reported by several investors.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on ALB. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Albemarle from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Albemarle from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Albemarle in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Albemarle from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Mizuho set a $76.00 price objective on Albemarle in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Albemarle has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $89.17.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of ALB stock traded down $2.5070 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $78.0430. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,455,643 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,486,469. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $70.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.98. The company has a market capitalization of $9.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.37 and a beta of 1.63. Albemarle has a fifty-two week low of $49.43 and a fifty-two week high of $113.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 10,050.0% during the 2nd 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. acquired a new position in Albemarle during the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 7,257.1% during the 2nd 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% during the 1st 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 acquired a new position in Albemarle during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.