Albemarle’s (ALB) “Sell (D-)” Rating Reiterated at Weiss Ratings

Weiss Ratings restated their sell (d-) rating on shares of Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) in a report issued on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

ALB has been the topic of several other reports. Mizuho upped their price objective on Albemarle from $78.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. HSBC upped their price objective on Albemarle from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Albemarle in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Albemarle from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $74.00 price objective on Albemarle and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $87.35.

Albemarle Stock Down 6.7%

NYSE ALB opened at $90.04 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $81.38 and its 200 day moving average is $69.33. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Albemarle has a 12 month low of $49.43 and a 12 month high of $113.91. The stock has a market cap of $10.60 billion, a PE ratio of -9.66 and a beta of 1.65.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.83) by $0.94. Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.87% and a negative net margin of 18.61%.The company had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.04 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Albemarle has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Research analysts predict that Albemarle will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th were given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 12th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently -17.38%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $250,000. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Albemarle by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,186 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $420,000 after acquiring an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Albemarle in the 3rd quarter valued at $86,000. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC bought a new position in Albemarle in the 3rd quarter valued at $254,000. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC grew its position in Albemarle by 542.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 36,110 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,928,000 after acquiring an additional 30,485 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

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.