Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) PT Lowered to $151.00

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its target price cut by equities researchers at KeyCorp from $159.00 to $151.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. KeyCorp’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 54.16% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Loop Capital reduced their price target on Albemarle from $168.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 15th. Bank of America raised shares of Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $137.00 to $156.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $135.00 price target (down previously from $150.00) on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $124.00 to $109.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on Albemarle from $188.00 to $178.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Albemarle presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $150.16.

Albemarle Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Albemarle stock opened at $97.95 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.51 billion, a PE ratio of 35.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a current ratio of 2.84, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $113.77 and its 200 day moving average is $120.68. Albemarle has a 1 year low of $90.32 and a 1 year high of $246.71.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.09). Albemarle had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 4.02%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $10.32 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 47.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Albemarle will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Albemarle

In other news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total value of $114,251.79. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $921,875.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total value of $114,251.79. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $921,875.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total transaction of $194,950.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $626,882.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Albemarle by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,570,906 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $267,117,000 after purchasing an additional 146,450 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank bought a new stake in Albemarle during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,897,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in Albemarle by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 12,574 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,138,000 after purchasing an additional 1,370 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in Albemarle by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 283,876 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $48,270,000 after purchasing an additional 14,593 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bar Harbor Wealth Management increased its holdings in Albemarle by 91.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bar Harbor Wealth Management now owns 4,627 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $787,000 after purchasing an additional 2,206 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

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.