BMO Capital Markets Has Lowered Expectations for Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Stock Price

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its price target dropped by stock analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $150.00 to $140.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 76.89% from the company’s previous close.

ALB has been the subject of several other research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $109.00 to $105.00 in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $79.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $171.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. They set a “hold” rating and a $96.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.14.

Albemarle Stock Performance

ALB opened at $79.15 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.44, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $89.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $92.39. Albemarle has a 1-year low of $71.97 and a 1-year high of $143.19. The company has a market cap of $9.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.73, a PEG ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.59.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 1.67% and a negative net margin of 28.80%. On average, analysts expect that Albemarle will post -1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.12, for a total value of $255,328.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 73,747 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,457,296.64. This trade represents a 3.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of ALB. Quarry LP boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 1,400.0% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 270 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Albemarle by 340.6% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 304 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its stake in Albemarle by 606.5% in the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 325 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in Albemarle in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, First Community Trust NA raised its stake in Albemarle by 55.0% in the fourth quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.