Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Upgraded at Baird R W

Baird R W upgraded shares of Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

ALB has been the topic of several other reports. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $100.00 target price (up from $95.00) on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Zacks Research lowered Albemarle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Albemarle from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Albemarle from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Albemarle from $87.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, eighteen have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Albemarle presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.21.

Albemarle Price Performance

Albemarle stock opened at $119.13 on Tuesday. Albemarle has a 1 year low of $49.43 and a 1 year high of $132.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.27. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $103.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.27. The company has a market cap of $14.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -74.92 and a beta of 1.43.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.19) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.92) by $0.73. The company had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.27 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 0.43% and a positive return on equity of 0.10%. Albemarle’s revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($1.55) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Albemarle will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently -101.89%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ALB. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 10,050.0% in the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 406 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC bought a new position in shares of Albemarle during the third quarter worth about $25,000. CVA Family Office LLC grew its stake in Albemarle by 7,257.1% in the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 515 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service increased its holdings in Albemarle by 74.5% in the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 452 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BOKF NA raised its stake in Albemarle by 5,771.4% during the third quarter. BOKF NA now owns 411 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.