Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Receives $117.10 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twenty-three research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $117.10.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ALB shares. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $135.00 to $85.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $128.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 16th. Berenberg Bank cut shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $102.00 to $85.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th.

Institutional Trading of Albemarle

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ALB. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 128.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 7,076,357 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,022,420,000 after acquiring an additional 3,979,885 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in Albemarle by 176.6% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 1,588,986 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $209,333,000 after purchasing an additional 3,662,117 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Albemarle in the 4th quarter valued at $377,341,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Albemarle by 47.4% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,185,734 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $749,235,000 after purchasing an additional 1,667,164 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 31.7% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Performance

NYSE:ALB opened at $86.05 on Monday. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $71.97 and a fifty-two week high of $177.52. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $87.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.07. The stock has a market cap of $10.11 billion, a PE ratio of 31.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.03 and a beta of 1.54.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.49). Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 6.38% and a negative net margin of 6.72%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $7.33 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 39.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Albemarle will post 0.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This is a positive change from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.88%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.91%.

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.