Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) Stock Now Rated "Moderate Buy" by Sell-Side Brokerages

Key Points

• Albemarle has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating from 26 analysts, including 15 buys, nine holds and two sells. The average 12-month price target is $186.57, although several brokerages recently lowered their targets.
• The company exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $3.75 in EPS versus the $3.20 consensus and $1.74 billion in revenue, up 31.1% year over year.
• Albemarle raised its quarterly dividend to $0.41 per share, equivalent to an annualized $1.64 dividend and a 1.6% yield. Institutional investors collectively own 92.87% of the stock.

Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-six analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have assigned a hold recommendation and fifteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $186.57.

ALB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley restated a "reduce" rating and set a $161.00 price objective on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Albemarle from $245.00 to $225.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on Albemarle from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 10th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Albemarle from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $166.00 to $157.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 10th.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB stock opened at $104.40 on Tuesday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $122.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $150.01. Albemarle has a 52 week low of $88.01 and a 52 week high of $221.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company has a market cap of $12.32 billion, a PE ratio of 386.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.36.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.55. Albemarle had a net margin of 3.09% and a return on equity of 10.96%. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.61 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.11 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Albemarle will post 11.39 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th were issued a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. This is an increase from Albemarle's previous quarterly dividend of $0.4050. Albemarle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 607.41%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 216.2% during the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 955 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $101,000 after buying an additional 653 shares in the last quarter. Parrish Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. Parrish Capital LLC now owns 8,551 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $905,000 after purchasing an additional 947 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,948 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $668,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Core Capital Management & Research inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,194,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 14.4% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,253 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $709,000 after purchasing an additional 663 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Albemarle

Albemarle Corporation NYSE: ALB is a global specialty chemicals company that develops, manufactures and markets materials used in energy storage, transportation, consumer products and industrial applications. The company is best known for its lithium business, which supplies lithium compounds used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics and energy-storage systems.

Albemarle also produces bromine-based specialty chemicals used in areas such as fire safety, water treatment, pharmaceutical manufacturing and other industrial processes.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.