Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Price Target Raised to $158.00

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its price target boosted by Rothschild & Co Redburn from $135.00 to $158.00 in a report published on Thursday,MarketScreener reports. They currently have a buy rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on ALB. TD Cowen raised their price target on Albemarle from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Albemarle from $85.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Baird R W raised Albemarle from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Mizuho increased their price target on Albemarle from $92.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $107.46.

Albemarle Price Performance

ALB stock opened at $125.22 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.27, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company has a market capitalization of $14.74 billion, a P/E ratio of -78.75 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $103.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $82.89. Albemarle has a twelve month low of $49.43 and a twelve month high of $132.90.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.19) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.92) by $0.73. The business had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.27 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 0.43% and a positive return on equity of 0.10%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($1.55) EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Albemarle will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is presently -101.89%.

Institutional Trading of Albemarle

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Albemarle in the third quarter valued at about $138,723,000. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 48.5% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,870,110 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $179,870,000 after acquiring an additional 937,538 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Albemarle by 22,047.4% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 713,812 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $44,613,000 after purchasing an additional 710,589 shares in the last quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC acquired a new position in Albemarle during the third quarter worth $47,088,000. Finally, FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Albemarle during the second quarter worth $32,903,000. Hedge funds and other 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.