Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Raised to “Equal Weight” at Morgan Stanley

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) was upgraded by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $147.00 price target on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $58.00. Morgan Stanley’s price objective points to a potential upside of 9.10% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on ALB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Albemarle from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Robert W. Baird set a $113.00 price target on shares of Albemarle and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Albemarle from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Albemarle from $88.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Albemarle currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $114.13.

Albemarle Stock Up 2.8%

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $134.73 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $15.86 billion, a P/E ratio of -84.74 and a beta of 1.43. Albemarle has a 12-month low of $49.43 and a 12-month high of $138.69. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $111.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $87.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly 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. Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 0.10% and a negative net margin of 0.43%.The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($1.55) EPS. The business’s revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Albemarle will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albemarle

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Albemarle in the 3rd quarter worth $138,723,000. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Albemarle by 48.5% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,870,110 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $179,870,000 after buying an additional 937,538 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Albemarle by 22,047.4% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 713,812 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $44,613,000 after buying an additional 710,589 shares during the last quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Albemarle in the third quarter valued at $47,088,000. Finally, FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle during the second quarter valued at about $32,903,000. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

About Albemarle

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.