Mizuho Lowers Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Price Target to $85.00

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its price objective reduced by equities research analysts at Mizuho from $90.00 to $85.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Mizuho’s price target points to a potential upside of 12.48% from the stock’s current price.

ALB has been the subject of a number of other reports. Clarkson Capital initiated coverage on shares of Albemarle in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $127.00 to $122.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $150.00 to $140.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $107.05.

Albemarle Stock Performance

NYSE:ALB opened at $75.57 on Friday. Albemarle has a 1 year low of $67.23 and a 1 year high of $137.50. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $83.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.88 billion, a PE ratio of -6.75 and a beta of 1.70.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative net margin of 21.93% and a negative return on equity of 1.72%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Albemarle will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Albemarle by 38.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,020,590 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $96,660,000 after acquiring an additional 282,194 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Albemarle by 71.5% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 14,948 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,287,000 after acquiring an additional 6,234 shares in the last quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC increased its position in Albemarle by 20.5% in the 4th quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC now owns 28,824 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,481,000 after acquiring an additional 4,899 shares in the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Albemarle by 28.7% in the 3rd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 705,719 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $66,839,000 after acquiring an additional 157,319 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Albemarle by 28.5% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 423,049 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $40,067,000 after acquiring an additional 93,718 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is 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.