Scotiabank Comments on Albemarle Co.’s FY2025 Earnings (NYSE:ALB)

Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) – Investment analysts at Scotiabank upped their FY2025 EPS estimates for Albemarle in a note issued to investors on Monday, May 6th. Scotiabank analyst B. Isaacson now expects that the specialty chemicals company will earn $9.48 per share for the year, up from their prior forecast of $9.30. Scotiabank currently has a “Sector Outperform” rating and a $150.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Albemarle’s current full-year earnings is $2.86 per share.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.09). Albemarle had a net margin of 4.02% and a return on equity of 14.53%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $10.32 EPS. Albemarle’s revenue for the quarter was down 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on ALB. Mizuho increased their price objective on Albemarle from $112.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. KeyCorp cut their target price on Albemarle from $178.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on Albemarle from $168.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Albemarle from $191.00 to $188.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Albemarle from $137.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.05.

Albemarle Price Performance

Albemarle stock opened at $130.40 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $123.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $125.93. Albemarle has a 12-month low of $106.69 and a 12-month high of $247.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.84, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market cap of $15.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.42, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.65.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently 58.18%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albemarle

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ALB. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Albemarle by 128.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 7,076,357 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,022,420,000 after acquiring an additional 3,979,885 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at $377,341,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Albemarle by 47.4% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,185,734 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $749,235,000 after purchasing an additional 1,667,164 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 31.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,800,219 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $838,025,000 after purchasing an additional 1,396,624 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its position in Albemarle by 55.8% during the fourth quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 3,476,674 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $502,310,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245,719 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

About Albemarle

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.