Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Price Target Raised to $91.00

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its price objective hoisted by stock analysts at Truist Financial from $87.00 to $91.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “hold” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Truist Financial’s price objective points to a potential downside of 4.30% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Baird R W lowered shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $78.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $89.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.29.

Albemarle Price Performance

Albemarle stock traded up $3.83 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $95.09. 1,245,488 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,555,335. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $87.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 2.31. Albemarle has a 52-week low of $49.43 and a 52-week high of $113.91. The company has a market cap of $11.19 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.21 and a beta of 1.70.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.19) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.92) by $0.73. The company had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.27 billion. Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.87% and a negative net margin of 18.61%.Albemarle’s revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($1.55) EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Albemarle will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albemarle

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,672,272 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,056,697,000 after buying an additional 77,773 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,954,331 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $184,782,000 after purchasing an additional 59,104 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 48.5% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,870,110 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $179,870,000 after purchasing an additional 937,538 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Albemarle during the third quarter worth approximately $138,723,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Albemarle by 28.7% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,706 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $110,814,000 after buying an additional 343,210 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.