Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Downgraded to Neutral at Robert W. Baird

Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a report issued on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $85.00 price target on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, down from their previous price target of $102.00.

ALB has been the subject of several other reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Berenberg Bank cut shares of Albemarle from a buy rating to a hold rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $159.00 to $151.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Albemarle to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $188.00 to $178.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Albemarle currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $128.37.

Albemarle Trading Down 4.8 %

NYSE:ALB traded down $3.99 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $79.53. 3,553,259 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,091,557. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $101.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $115.16. The firm has a market cap of $9.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.71, a PEG ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.57. Albemarle has a 52-week low of $79.47 and a 52-week high of $203.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.91.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.49). The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 6.72% and a positive return on equity of 6.38%. Albemarle’s revenue for the quarter was down 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $7.33 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Albemarle will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This is an increase from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.91%.

Insider Transactions at Albemarle

In related news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total value of $114,251.79. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,802 shares in the company, valued at $921,875.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Albemarle news, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total value of $194,950.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,743 shares in the company, valued at $626,882.31. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total value of $114,251.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $921,875.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Albemarle

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ALB. WFA Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the first quarter worth about $25,000. First Community Trust NA bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the second quarter worth about $25,000. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 610.0% in the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 284 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the period. USCF Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. USCF Advisers LLC now owns 200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.