Morgan Stanley Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Stock Price

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley cut its Albemarle price target from $161 to $105 and maintained an “equal weight” rating; the new target implies 7.39% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst views are mixed: Albemarle has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average target of $173.95, while other brokerages have also lowered targets but several retain Buy or Outperform ratings.
• Shares closed at $97.77, near the company’s $89.77 52-week low. In its latest quarter, Albemarle beat earnings and revenue estimates, with revenue up 18.8% year over year.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) had its price target cut by Morgan Stanley from $161.00 to $105.00 in a research report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "equal weight" rating on the specialty chemicals company's stock. Morgan Stanley's price objective points to a potential upside of 7.39% from the company's previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on ALB. Mizuho raised Albemarle from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Albemarle from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Albemarle from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Argus reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $230.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on Albemarle from $129.00 to $119.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $173.95.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of Albemarle stock traded down $1.48 on Monday, hitting $97.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 839,163 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,467,787. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 2.34. Albemarle has a 1 year low of $89.77 and a 1 year high of $221.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $107.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $147.87. The company has a market capitalization of $11.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.34.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.05. Albemarle had a return on equity of 14.91% and a net margin of 10.40%. The company had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.19) earnings per share. Albemarle's revenue for the quarter was up 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Albemarle will post 11.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sigma Planning Corp grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 2.3% in the first quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 2,952 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $530,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 27,452 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $4,928,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 11,664 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $2,082,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Cadence Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Cadence Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,982 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $894,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,584 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $214,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company's stock.

Albemarle Company Profile

Albemarle Corporation is a specialty chemicals company that produces lithium, bromine and refining catalysts. Its products serve industries including energy storage, transportation, electronics, petroleum refining and pharmaceuticals.

The company supplies lithium compounds used in rechargeable batteries and other applications. It also makes bromine-based products for uses such as flame retardants and water treatment, along with catalysts used in refining petroleum.

Albemarle traces its history to 1887 and is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.

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