Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Given New $58.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its target price lowered by Morgan Stanley from $68.00 to $58.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an underweight rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

ALB has been the subject of several other reports. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $85.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Albemarle from $80.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Albemarle from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, TD Securities cut their price target on Albemarle from $115.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $92.43.

Albemarle Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $57.37 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $64.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $83.24. The company has a market cap of $6.75 billion, a PE ratio of -5.12 and a beta of 1.71. Albemarle has a fifty-two week low of $49.43 and a fifty-two week high of $137.50.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.18) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.62) by $0.44. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.18 billion. Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.72% and a negative net margin of 21.93%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.26 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Albemarle will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently -14.57%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albemarle

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in Albemarle in the 4th quarter valued at $85,570,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,405,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,594,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,256,294,000 after purchasing an additional 359,014 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its stake in Albemarle by 36.7% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,192,527 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $102,653,000 after buying an additional 320,150 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 6,393.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 152,394 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $10,975,000 after purchasing an additional 150,047 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.