Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) gapped down prior to trading on Friday after Mizuho lowered their price target on the stock from $90.00 to $85.00. The stock had previously closed at $76.48, but opened at $74.28. Mizuho currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Albemarle shares last traded at $76.98, with a volume of 89,169 shares traded.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $127.00 to $122.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Clarkson Capital initiated coverage on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI cut shares of Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $73.00 to $68.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $108.77.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Albemarle during the fourth quarter worth about $85,570,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Albemarle during the fourth quarter worth about $39,405,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Albemarle by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,594,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,256,294,000 after purchasing an additional 359,014 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in Albemarle by 36.7% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,192,527 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $102,653,000 after purchasing an additional 320,150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Albemarle by 38.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,020,590 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $96,660,000 after purchasing an additional 282,194 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Down 1.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $84.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $91.91. The company has a market capitalization of $8.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.75 and a beta of 1.70.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative net margin of 21.93% and a negative return on equity of 1.72%. Sell-side analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently -14.46%.

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.