Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $190.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Citigroup raised shares of Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $245.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Vertical Research upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $224.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.54.

Albemarle Stock Down 5.2%

Shares of ALB stock opened at $133.69 on Friday. Albemarle has a 1 year low of $60.64 and a 1 year high of $221.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 2.07. The business’s fifty day moving average is $176.64 and its 200-day moving average is $169.10. The stock has a market cap of $15.77 billion, a PE ratio of -39.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.30.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $1.71. Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 5.22% and a negative net margin of 5.00%.The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.18) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Albemarle will post 12.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Albemarle

In other news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 16,393 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.72, for a total value of $3,011,721.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 87,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,078,990.68. This trade represents a 15.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in Albemarle by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,630,394 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $230,603,000 after purchasing an additional 207,770 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 3.7% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,475,832 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $119,710,000 after purchasing an additional 52,698 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 1.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,263,734 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $102,464,000 after purchasing an additional 22,856 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 57.7% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,241,106 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $175,542,000 after buying an additional 453,881 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at $165,271,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Company Profile

Albemarle Corporation is a leading global specialty chemicals company primarily engaged in the production and distribution of lithium, bromine, and catalysts. Its lithium segment supplies key components used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics, and grid storage systems. The company’s bromine specialty products serve a wide range of industries, including oil and gas drilling fluids, fire safety solutions, and water treatment. In its catalysts division, Albemarle provides products for petroleum refining, chemical processing and emissions control.

Founded in 1994 as a spin-off from Ethyl Corporation, Albemarle has grown through strategic acquisitions and capacity expansions to become one of the world’s foremost chemical producers.