Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Reaches New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday after Mizuho raised their price target on the stock from $110.00 to $132.00. Mizuho currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Albemarle traded as high as $137.94 and last traded at $138.4950, with a volume of 625106 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $131.07.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $159.00 target price on shares of Albemarle in a report on Thursday. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $135.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $100.00 price objective (up from $95.00) on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $113.00 price target on Albemarle and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, eighteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $118.75.

Institutional Trading of Albemarle

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ALB. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle in the third quarter valued at $138,723,000. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $179,870,000 after purchasing an additional 937,538 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $44,613,000 after purchasing an additional 710,589 shares during the last quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle in the 3rd quarter worth $47,088,000. Finally, FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,903,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Albemarle Price Performance

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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $111.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $87.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.53 billion, a PE ratio of -88.33 and a beta of 1.43.

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

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -101.89%.

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.