Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twenty ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have given a hold recommendation and ten have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $152.95.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on Albemarle from $188.00 to $178.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Albemarle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Albemarle from $124.00 to $109.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Loop Capital reduced their target price on Albemarle from $168.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Albemarle from $170.00 to $127.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction of $194,950.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,743 shares in the company, valued at approximately $626,882.31. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related 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 transaction of $194,950.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,743 shares in the company, valued at approximately $626,882.31. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,802 shares of the company’s stock, 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 Trading of Albemarle

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 3,979,885 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in Albemarle by 176.6% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 1,588,986 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $209,333,000 after buying an additional 3,662,117 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter worth about $377,341,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,667,164 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its holdings 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB opened at $90.46 on Wednesday. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $114.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $121.00. Albemarle has a 12-month low of $90.32 and a 12-month high of $247.44. The firm has a market cap of $10.63 billion, a PE ratio of 32.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.57.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $10.32 earnings per share. Albemarle’s revenue for the quarter was down 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Albemarle 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. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. 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.