Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Stock Price Target Cut by Barclays

Key Points

• Barclays cut its Albemarle price target from $109 to $95 and maintained an “equal weight” rating, implying 4.42% downside from the prior close.
• Analyst views were mixed: MarketBeat reported a consensus “Hold” rating and an average target of $178.77, with 15 Buy, 7 Hold, and 3 Sell ratings.
• Albemarle’s latest quarterly results topped estimates: EPS was $2.58 versus $2.53 expected, while revenue of $1.55 billion rose 18.8% year over year.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) had its price target reduced by equities researchers at Barclays from $109.00 to $95.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "equal weight" rating on the specialty chemicals company's stock. Barclays's price target would suggest a potential downside of 4.42% from the company's previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on ALB. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 10th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Albemarle from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Friday, October 9th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Albemarle from $225.00 to $185.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 20th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Albemarle has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $178.77.

Albemarle Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:ALB traded up $1.02 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $99.39. The company's stock had a trading volume of 709,579 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,467,139. The firm has a market cap of $11.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $108.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $148.24. Albemarle has a 1 year low of $89.77 and a 1 year high of $221.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.05. Albemarle had a return on equity of 15.23% and a net margin of 10.40%. The firm had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.19) earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Albemarle will post 11.15 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Primecap Management Co. CA acquired a new position in Albemarle in the second quarter worth about $358,101,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in Albemarle in the second quarter valued at about $131,049,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Albemarle in the second quarter valued at about $103,268,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in Albemarle by 2,981.1% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 733,793 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $77,621,000 after buying an additional 709,977 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in Albemarle by 69.7% during the third quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,436,117 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $151,912,000 after buying an additional 589,787 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Albemarle Company Profile

Albemarle Corporation NYSE: ALB is a global specialty chemicals company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company develops, manufactures, and markets engineered chemicals used in energy storage, transportation, refining, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, consumer products, and other industrial applications.

Albemarle is one of the world's major producers of lithium and supplies lithium compounds, including lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide, for use in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics, and grid energy-storage systems.

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