Scotiabank Has Negative Outlook of Albemarle FY2025 Earnings

Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) – Scotiabank cut their FY2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Albemarle in a report issued on Tuesday, February 18th. Scotiabank analyst B. Isaacson now expects that the specialty chemicals company will post earnings per share of ($0.94) for the year, down from their previous estimate of $2.74. Scotiabank has a “Sector Perform” rating and a $75.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Albemarle’s current full-year earnings is $0.45 per share.

ALB has been the topic of a number of other reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Albemarle from $133.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Albemarle from $99.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Albemarle from $150.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Clarkson Capital assumed coverage on shares of Albemarle in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.68.

Albemarle Stock Down 1.4 %

ALB stock opened at $82.51 on Friday. Albemarle has a 1 year low of $71.97 and a 1 year high of $143.19. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $87.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.95.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.72% and a negative net margin of 21.93%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 38.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,020,590 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $96,660,000 after acquiring an additional 282,194 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Albemarle by 71.5% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 14,948 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,287,000 after buying an additional 6,234 shares during the period. Bristlecone Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC now owns 28,824 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,481,000 after purchasing an additional 4,899 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 28.7% in the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 705,719 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $66,839,000 after purchasing an additional 157,319 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 28.5% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 423,049 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $40,067,000 after purchasing an additional 93,718 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Albemarle

In related news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.12, for a total transaction of $255,328.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 73,747 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,457,296.64. This represents a 3.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.