Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Stock Price Down 6.5% Following Analyst Downgrade

Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)’s share price traded down 6.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after KeyCorp lowered their price target on the stock from $159.00 to $151.00. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Albemarle traded as low as $91.24 and last traded at $92.66. 2,349,545 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 23% from the average session volume of 3,063,663 shares. The stock had previously closed at $99.15.

Several other analysts have also commented on ALB. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Albemarle from $112.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $157.00 target price on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Albemarle from $188.00 to $178.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $137.00 to $156.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Berenberg Bank raised shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $130.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $152.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Albemarle by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,083,522 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,034,787,000 after acquiring an additional 82,874 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 128.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 7,076,357 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,022,420,000 after purchasing an additional 3,979,885 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 31.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,800,219 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $838,025,000 after purchasing an additional 1,396,624 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Albemarle by 47.4% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,185,734 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $749,235,000 after buying an additional 1,667,164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA increased 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 buying an additional 1,245,719 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Albemarle Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.84 and a quick ratio of 1.91. The company has a market cap of $11.39 billion, a PE ratio of 35.24, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.57. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $114.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $120.84.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued 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). Albemarle had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 4.02%. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $10.32 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 47.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 2.07 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.18%.

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.