Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Given New $110.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its target price lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $100.00 to $110.00 in a research note released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $128.00 to $103.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Albemarle from $135.00 to $85.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Baird R W lowered Albemarle from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $188.00 to $178.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, HSBC cut shares of Albemarle from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $95.00 target price for the company. in a 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 given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $117.60.

Albemarle Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $103.00 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $87.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $104.27. Albemarle has a 12-month low of $71.97 and a 12-month high of $177.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market cap of $12.11 billion, a PE ratio of 37.45, a P/E/G ratio of 7.98 and a beta of 1.54.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly 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 during 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 was down 39.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $7.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Albemarle will post 0.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. This is a boost from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.91%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 32.3% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,817 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $172,000 after acquiring an additional 444 shares during the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt purchased a new position in Albemarle during the 3rd quarter valued at about $76,000. TAP Consulting LLC boosted its position in Albemarle by 182.8% during the 3rd quarter. TAP Consulting LLC now owns 55,588 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,265,000 after acquiring an additional 35,934 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the third quarter valued at about $1,444,000. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 3rd quarter valued at $233,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.