Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.49 EPS

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.49), Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 6.72% and a positive return on equity of 6.38%. The company’s revenue was down 39.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $7.33 earnings per share. Albemarle updated its FY 2024 guidance to EPS.

Albemarle Price Performance

Albemarle stock traded down $6.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $86.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,807,206 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,879,290. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $102.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $115.52. Albemarle has a twelve month low of $82.25 and a twelve month high of $214.99.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.405 dividend. This is an increase from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is presently 58.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Albemarle news, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $626,882.31. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Albemarle 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 transaction 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 4,743 shares in the company, valued at approximately $626,882.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup decreased their price target on Albemarle from $137.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Albemarle from $124.00 to $109.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. HSBC cut Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $127.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $135.00 price target (down from $150.00) on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $136.35.

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.