Albemarle Corporation (ALB) - What Are Analysts Thinking About This Stock?

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is mixed: Twenty-five analysts rate Albemarle a consensus “Hold,” with 15 buys, 7 holds and 3 sells. The average 12-month price target is $179.41.
• Shares have fallen sharply: ALB opened at $91, near its 52-week low of $88.01 and well below its 200-day moving average of $149.82, despite the company exceeding quarterly earnings and revenue estimates.
• Institutional ownership remains high: Institutional investors own 92.87% of the stock. Albemarle also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.41 per share, equal to a 1.8% annualized yield.

Shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the twenty-five analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $179.41.

ALB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Albemarle from $225.00 to $185.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. Mizuho raised shares of Albemarle from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Albemarle from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $175.00 price target on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 10th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Addison Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Albemarle in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 3,700.0% in the 3rd quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 304 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. NFSG Corp grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 470.0% in the third quarter. NFSG Corp now owns 342 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares during the period. Fiduciary Financial Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 2nd quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp bought a new stake in Albemarle during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company's stock.

Albemarle Trading Down 2.4%

Shares of ALB stock opened at $91.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 2.09. Albemarle has a 52-week low of $88.01 and a 52-week high of $221.00. The company has a market capitalization of $10.74 billion, a PE ratio of 337.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.36. The business's fifty day moving average is $111.88 and its 200 day moving average is $149.82.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.55. Albemarle had a return on equity of 10.96% and a net margin of 3.09%. The company had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.11 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Albemarle will post 11.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 18th. Albemarle's payout ratio is currently 607.41%.

About Albemarle

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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