Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Price Target Cut to $111.00

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its target price cut by investment analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $128.00 to $111.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective points to a potential upside of 40.38% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $160.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group cut their price objective on Albemarle from $124.00 to $109.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Albemarle from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Albemarle from $122.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $128.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $128.37.

Albemarle Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of Albemarle stock opened at $79.07 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $9.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.57. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $99.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $114.66. Albemarle has a 52-week low of $79.00 and a 52-week high of $203.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.91.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative net margin of 6.72% and a positive return on equity of 6.38%. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $7.33 earnings per share. Albemarle’s revenue was down 39.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Albemarle will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Albemarle news, 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 transaction of $194,950.75. Following the sale, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the 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 approximately $921,875.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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. 0.38% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Czech National Bank boosted its position in Albemarle by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 20,648 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,720,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. USCF Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. USCF Advisers LLC now owns 200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 45.0% in the 1st quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 332 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Albemarle by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 18,298 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,644,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Finally, Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 65.3% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 276 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Albemarle

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.