Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Trading 6.7% Higher - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Albemarle Corporation's shares increased 6.7% to a last trading price of $81.08, despite a significant drop in trading volume.
• Analysts are optimistic, with UBS upgrading the stock from "sell" to "neutral" and increasing their price target from $62.00 to $89.00.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.405 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 2.0%.

Shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) traded up 6.7% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $80.53 and last traded at $81.08. 1,482,539 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 59% from the average session volume of 3,590,184 shares. The stock had previously closed at $75.98.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group upgraded Albemarle from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $89.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Albemarle from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 16th. KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Albemarle from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Mizuho set a $76.00 target price on Albemarle in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Albemarle presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $86.47.

Albemarle Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 1.47. The firm has a market cap of $9.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.69 and a beta of 1.64. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.88.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.83) by $0.94. Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.87% and a negative net margin of 18.61%.The firm had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.04 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Albemarle has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors 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 2.0%. Albemarle's payout ratio is -17.38%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albemarle

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ALB. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,672,272 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,056,697,000 after acquiring an additional 77,773 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 2.0% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,954,331 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $184,782,000 after acquiring an additional 59,104 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 48.5% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,870,110 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $179,870,000 after acquiring an additional 937,538 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 28.7% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,706 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $110,814,000 after acquiring an additional 343,210 shares during the period. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 17.4% in the first quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 1,167,520 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $84,085,000 after acquiring an additional 173,441 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.