Rothschild Redb Upgrades Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) to "Strong-Buy"

Key Points

• Rothschild Redb has upgraded Albemarle (NYSE: ALB) to a "strong-buy" rating, indicating increased confidence in the company's future performance.
• Wells Fargo increased its price target for Albemarle from $70 to $90, while other analysts also raised their targets, showing a general optimism in the stock's potential.
• Albemarle reported a quarterly revenue of $1.33 billion, exceeding analysts' expectations, although the company faced a 7% decline in revenue compared to the previous year.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Rothschild Redb to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note issued on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $70.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. HSBC increased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Albemarle from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $95.33.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of ALB stock opened at $105.65 on Friday. Albemarle has a 1 year low of $49.43 and a 1 year high of $113.91. The firm's 50 day moving average is $85.52 and its 200-day moving average is $71.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.34 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.83) by $0.94. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 18.61% and a negative return on equity of 1.87%. The company had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.04 earnings per share. Albemarle's quarterly revenue was down 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Albemarle has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Albemarle will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cromwell Holdings LLC increased its position in Albemarle by 36.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 413 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Albemarle by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 6,662 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $563,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC increased its position in Albemarle by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 5,415 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Albemarle by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,482 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $594,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its position in Albemarle by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 22,798 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,496,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.