Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Stock Price Up 4.1%

Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) shot up 4.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $88.43 and last traded at $87.69. 982,865 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 3,119,374 shares. The stock had previously closed at $84.22.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on ALB. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Albemarle from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 16th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $151.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group cut their target price on Albemarle from $124.00 to $109.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, HSBC lowered Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $122.60.

Albemarle Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $10.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.91. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $91.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $111.77.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.49). The business 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%. Albemarle’s revenue for the quarter was down 39.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $7.33 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. 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 yield of 1.79%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is 58.91%.

Institutional Trading of Albemarle

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ALB. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Albemarle by 128.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 7,076,357 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,022,420,000 after purchasing an additional 3,979,885 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 176.6% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 1,588,986 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $209,333,000 after buying an additional 3,662,117 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Albemarle in the 4th quarter valued at $377,341,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Albemarle by 47.4% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,185,734 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $749,235,000 after acquiring an additional 1,667,164 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its stake in Albemarle by 31.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,800,219 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $838,025,000 after acquiring an additional 1,396,624 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.