Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Price Target Raised to $75.00

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its price target increased by HSBC from $60.00 to $75.00 in a research report released on Monday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has a hold rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

ALB has been the subject of several other research reports. UBS Group raised shares of Albemarle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $62.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $74.00 price target on shares of Albemarle and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Mizuho set a $76.00 price target on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $85.83.

Albemarle Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $81.69 on Monday. Albemarle has a 12-month low of $49.43 and a 12-month high of $113.91. The stock has a market cap of $9.61 billion, a PE ratio of -8.77 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a 50-day moving average of $78.38 and a 200 day moving average of $68.33.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.83) by $0.94. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 18.61% and a negative return on equity of 1.87%. The company had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.04 EPS. Albemarle’s revenue was down 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Albemarle has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Albemarle will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -17.38%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Albemarle by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,672,272 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,056,697,000 after buying an additional 77,773 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Albemarle by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,954,331 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $184,782,000 after buying an additional 59,104 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in Albemarle by 48.5% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,870,110 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $179,870,000 after buying an additional 937,538 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Albemarle by 28.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,706 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $110,814,000 after buying an additional 343,210 shares during the period. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC boosted its position in Albemarle by 17.4% in the 1st quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 1,167,520 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $84,085,000 after buying an additional 173,441 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.