Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Trading 4.8% Higher

Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) shot up 4.8% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $90.27 and last traded at $90.15. 728,975 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 3,047,184 shares. The stock had previously closed at $86.03.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ALB. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $188.00 to $178.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Albemarle from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $145.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Albemarle from $124.00 to $109.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Albemarle from $115.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Albemarle from $190.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $117.10.

Albemarle Trading Up 3.1 %

The firm has a market cap of $10.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.03 and a beta of 1.54. The business’s 50 day moving average is $86.91 and its 200-day moving average is $106.63. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.49). The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 39.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $7.33 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post 0.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a $0.405 dividend. This is a positive change 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 dividend yield of 1.83%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.91%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 25.3% in the 4th quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 2,149 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $310,000 after buying an additional 434 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 23,874 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,449,000 after purchasing an additional 756 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 77.2% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 257 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 43.5% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 515 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commerce Bank boosted its position in Albemarle by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 10,667 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,541,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the period. 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.