Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Rating Lowered to Equal Weight at Wells Fargo & Company

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) was downgraded by Wells Fargo & Company from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $100.00 price target on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, down from their prior price target of $145.00. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 2.20% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on ALB. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Albemarle from $122.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $157.00 target price on shares of Albemarle in a report on Friday, May 24th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Albemarle from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective (down from $150.00) on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Albemarle from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $148.32.

Albemarle Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Albemarle stock opened at $97.85 on Thursday. Albemarle has a twelve month low of $90.32 and a twelve month high of $246.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company’s 50 day moving average is $113.17 and its 200 day moving average is $120.31. The company has a market cap of $11.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.57.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.09). Albemarle had a net margin of 4.02% and a return on equity of 14.53%. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $10.32 earnings per share. Albemarle’s quarterly revenue was down 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Albemarle will post 1.98 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Albemarle

In related news, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total value of $194,950.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $626,882.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Albemarle news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total transaction of $114,251.79. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,802 shares in the company, valued at $921,875.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total value of $194,950.75. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. 0.38% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Albemarle

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ALB. MONECO Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 4,131 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $597,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 430.7% during the fourth quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 43,119 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $6,230,000 after buying an additional 34,994 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 5,063 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $731,000 after buying an additional 470 shares during the period. Commerce Bank lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 10,667 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,541,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 23,874 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,449,000 after acquiring an additional 756 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is currently 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.