Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Price Target Cut to $109.00

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its price objective cut by UBS Group from $124.00 to $109.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on ALB. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and issued a $157.00 target price on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Bank of America raised Albemarle from a neutral rating to a buy rating and increased their price objective for the company from $137.00 to $156.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Albemarle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Albemarle from $112.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $170.00 to $127.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $148.32.

Albemarle Price Performance

ALB stock opened at $97.85 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.84. Albemarle has a 52-week low of $90.32 and a 52-week high of $246.00. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $113.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $120.31.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $10.32 EPS. Albemarle’s revenue for the quarter was down 47.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Albemarle will post 1.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.64%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is presently 58.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Albemarle news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of Albemarle 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $921,875.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Albemarle news, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were 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 directly owns 4,743 shares in the company, valued at approximately $626,882.31. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total transaction of $114,251.79. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $921,875.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.38% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albemarle

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. WFA Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. USCF Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. USCF Advisers LLC now owns 200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 2,942.9% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 213 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its position in Albemarle by 21,400.0% in the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 215 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the period. 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.