Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have given a hold recommendation and ten have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $175.05.

ALB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $137.00 to $156.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Albemarle in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Albemarle from $191.00 to $188.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Albemarle from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their target price on Albemarle from $115.00 to $112.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 7th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its stake in Albemarle by 3.4% in the third quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,149 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in Albemarle by 51.2% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 130 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its stake in Albemarle by 39.0% in the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 164 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in Albemarle by 1.0% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 5,212 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,378,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its stake in Albemarle by 3.4% in the first quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 1,593 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $352,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Down 2.3 %

ALB stock opened at $111.77 on Friday. Albemarle has a twelve month low of $106.69 and a twelve month high of $247.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market cap of $13.14 billion, a PE ratio of 8.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.62. The business has a 50 day moving average of $123.12 and a 200 day moving average of $129.82.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.86. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. Albemarle had a return on equity of 26.62% and a net margin of 16.36%. Albemarle’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $8.62 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Albemarle will post 3.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.99%.

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.