Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Receives $114.24 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-two brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $112.38.

Several analysts recently commented on ALB shares. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Albemarle from $171.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $96.00 to $85.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $99.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI downgraded Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th.

Insider Activity at Albemarle

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.12, for a total value of $255,328.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 73,747 shares in the company, valued at $7,457,296.64. The trade was a 3.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ALB. AMF Tjanstepension AB purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the third quarter worth $692,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt bought a new stake in Albemarle in the third quarter worth $76,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in Albemarle by 32.3% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,817 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $172,000 after acquiring an additional 444 shares during the last quarter. Regatta Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in Albemarle by 156.7% during the 3rd quarter. Regatta Capital Group LLC now owns 7,347 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $696,000 after buying an additional 4,485 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Touchstone Capital Inc. grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 6.1% in the third quarter. Touchstone Capital Inc. now owns 55,111 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,220,000 after purchasing an additional 3,162 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Albemarle Price Performance

ALB stock opened at $81.20 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 2.44. Albemarle has a 52-week low of $71.97 and a 52-week high of $143.19. The company has a market capitalization of $9.54 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.85, a PEG ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $89.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $92.31.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its 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 positive return on equity of 1.67% and a negative net margin of 28.80%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Albemarle will post -1.55 EPS for the current year.

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.