Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Price Target Cut to $170.00 by Analysts at Oppenheimer

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its price objective dropped by stock analysts at Oppenheimer from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Oppenheimer’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 72.69% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also commented on ALB. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Albemarle to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Baird R W downgraded shares of Albemarle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price objective on Albemarle from $151.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.58.

Albemarle Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of ALB stock traded down $1.49 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $98.44. 504,410 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,959,546. The stock has a market cap of $11.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.79 and a beta of 1.55. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $93.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $100.56. Albemarle has a fifty-two week low of $71.97 and a fifty-two week high of $153.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.55) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.31) by ($1.24). The company had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.39 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 6.72% and a positive return on equity of 6.38%. Equities analysts expect that Albemarle will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albemarle

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norden Group LLC acquired a new stake in Albemarle during the first quarter worth about $262,000. Csenge Advisory Group acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 1st quarter worth approximately $265,000. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its position in Albemarle by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,186 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $551,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its stake in Albemarle by 25.2% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 40,018 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,272,000 after buying an additional 8,057 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in Albemarle in the first quarter worth $202,000. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.