Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Brokerages

Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Hold" by the twenty brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $175.05.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on ALB shares. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $178.00 to $159.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $112.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $191.00 to $188.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Albemarle from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $220.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $168.00 to $162.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 15th.

Albemarle Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE ALB traded up $0.35 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $112.15. 1,960,533 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,306,674. Albemarle has a 12 month low of $106.69 and a 12 month high of $247.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.18 billion, a PE ratio of 8.41, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a 50 day moving average of $123.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $129.47.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.86. Albemarle had a net margin of 16.36% and a return on equity of 26.62%. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $8.62 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Albemarle will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. Albemarle's payout ratio is 11.99%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ALB. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle in the 1st quarter worth approximately $312,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 45.1% in the 1st quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,190 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $156,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle in the 1st quarter worth approximately $262,000. WFA Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Finally, Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 22,644 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $2,983,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company's stock.

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.