Brokerages Set Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Target Price at $155.78

Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the twenty ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have issued a hold recommendation and ten have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $152.95.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ALB. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $124.00 to $109.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $157.00 price objective on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Citigroup upped their target price on Albemarle from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Bank of America raised Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $137.00 to $156.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Albemarle from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th.

Insider Activity at Albemarle

In related news, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total transaction of $194,950.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,743 shares in the company, valued at approximately $626,882.31. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Albemarle news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total value of $114,251.79. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $921,875.06. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total value of $194,950.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $626,882.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.38% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Albemarle

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 20,648 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,720,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Regatta Capital Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Regatta Capital Group LLC now owns 2,371 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $343,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. USCF Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. USCF Advisers LLC now owns 200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 45.0% in the 1st quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 332 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 18,298 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,644,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Down 8.8 %

Shares of Albemarle stock opened at $90.46 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $114.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $121.00. The company has a market cap of $10.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a current ratio of 2.84, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Albemarle has a 1 year low of $90.32 and a 1 year high of $247.44.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. Albemarle had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 4.02%. The firm’s revenue was down 47.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $10.32 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Albemarle will post 2.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is 58.18%.

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.