Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the twenty-three research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, fifteen have issued a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $117.60.

A number of brokerages recently commented on ALB. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Albemarle from $128.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Albemarle from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Albemarle from $137.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on Albemarle from $151.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, 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 research note on Monday, August 19th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in Albemarle by 32.3% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,817 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $172,000 after buying an additional 444 shares in the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt bought a new stake in Albemarle during the third quarter worth $76,000. TAP Consulting LLC lifted its stake in Albemarle by 182.8% during the third quarter. TAP Consulting LLC now owns 55,588 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,265,000 after purchasing an additional 35,934 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in Albemarle during the third quarter worth $1,444,000. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital bought a new stake in Albemarle during the third quarter worth $233,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE ALB opened at $103.00 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $87.73 and a 200-day moving average of $104.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.98 and a beta of 1.54. Albemarle has a 52 week low of $71.97 and a 52 week high of $177.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.67.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its earnings results 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 negative net margin of 6.72% and a positive return on equity of 6.38%. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $7.33 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Albemarle will post 0.69 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a $0.405 dividend. This is an increase from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. 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.