Albemarle Co. Forecasted to Earn Q3 2024 Earnings of ($0.54) Per Share (NYSE:ALB)

Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) – Investment analysts at KeyCorp issued their Q3 2024 EPS estimates for Albemarle in a report issued on Sunday, October 6th. KeyCorp analyst A. Yefremov forecasts that the specialty chemicals company will post earnings per share of ($0.54) for the quarter. KeyCorp currently has a “Overweight” rating and a $132.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Albemarle’s current full-year earnings is $0.69 per share. KeyCorp also issued estimates for Albemarle’s Q4 2024 earnings at $0.43 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $0.19 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $5.07 EPS.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Albemarle to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $128.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $135.00 to $126.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price target on Albemarle from $188.00 to $178.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $117.60.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of Albemarle stock opened at $103.00 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $87.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $104.27. The firm has a market cap of $12.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.45, a P/E/G ratio of 7.98 and a beta of 1.54. Albemarle has a 12 month low of $71.97 and a 12 month high of $177.52.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $7.33 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 39.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albemarle

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. WFA Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in Albemarle in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. First Financial Corp IN acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. First Community Trust NA purchased a new stake in Albemarle during the second quarter worth $25,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC grew its position in Albemarle by 610.0% during the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 284 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. This is a positive change from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.