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

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its target price dropped by analysts at Piper Sandler from $90.00 to $85.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “underweight” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 4.61% from the company’s current price.

ALB has been the topic of a number of other research reports. UBS Group reduced their price target on Albemarle from $99.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Albemarle from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $171.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $96.00 to $85.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.68.

Albemarle Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of ALB opened at $81.26 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $86.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.95. Albemarle has a 1 year low of $71.97 and a 1 year high of $143.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.55 billion, a PE ratio of -7.26, a P/E/G ratio of 11.64 and a beta of 1.59.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.72% and a negative net margin of 21.93%. Analysts forecast that Albemarle will post 0.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Albemarle

In other news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.12, for a total value of $255,328.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 73,747 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,457,296.64. The trade was a 3.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ALB. AMF Tjanstepension AB acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle during the third quarter worth about $692,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Albemarle during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $375,000. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 213.1% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,918 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $276,000 after buying an additional 1,986 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Greenleaf Trust boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 31.2% in the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 5,802 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $550,000 after buying an additional 1,380 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.