Albemarle's (ALB) Sell (D-) Rating Reaffirmed at Weiss Ratings

Key Points

• Albemarle Corporation's stock retains a "sell (D-)" rating from Weiss Ratings, despite recent target price increases from other analysts.
• The company experienced a 9.4% increase in stock price, trading at $106.50, showcasing significant trading activity with nearly 4 million shares exchanged.
• Albemarle recently reported earnings of $0.11 per share, surpassing analysts’ expectations and generating $1.33 billion in revenue for the quarter.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "sell (d-)" rating reissued by investment analysts at Weiss Ratings in a research report issued on Friday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $70.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $74.00 to $95.00 in a report on Friday, October 17th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Albemarle from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 16th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $72.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $95.33.

Albemarle Stock Up 9.4%

Shares of Albemarle stock traded up $9.14 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $106.50. 3,950,771 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,569,269. The company has a 50 day moving average of $85.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.93. Albemarle has a fifty-two week low of $49.43 and a fifty-two week high of $113.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market cap of $12.53 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.44 and a beta of 1.65.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.83) by $0.94. The company had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.23 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 18.61% and a negative return on equity of 1.87%. Albemarle's quarterly revenue was down 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.04 EPS. Albemarle has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Albemarle will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albemarle

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ALB. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in Albemarle by 48.5% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,870,110 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $179,870,000 after acquiring an additional 937,538 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 22,047.4% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 713,812 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $44,613,000 after buying an additional 710,589 shares in the last quarter. FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,903,000. PGGM Investments raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 90.4% in the second quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 1,069,924 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $67,052,000 after buying an additional 507,975 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,482,000. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.