Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) gapped down prior to trading on Monday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $137.00 to $100.00. The stock had previously closed at $97.87, but opened at $93.60. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Albemarle shares last traded at $94.00, with a volume of 164,475 shares trading hands.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $135.00 target price (down previously from $150.00) on shares of Albemarle in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. KeyCorp dropped their target price on Albemarle from $159.00 to $151.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Bank of America raised Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $137.00 to $156.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $170.00 to $127.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Albemarle from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $148.32.

Insider Activity at Albemarle

In other Albemarle news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total transaction of $114,251.79. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $921,875.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Albemarle news, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total transaction of $194,950.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $626,882.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total value of $114,251.79. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,802 shares in the company, valued at $921,875.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.38% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of ALB. PGGM Investments boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 22.3% in the 2nd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 505,731 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $48,307,000 after purchasing an additional 92,239 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC boosted its stake in Albemarle by 2,142.1% during the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 426 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 407 shares during the period. Legacy Trust grew its position in Albemarle by 6.5% during the second quarter. Legacy Trust now owns 37,068 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,541,000 after buying an additional 2,254 shares in the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC increased its stake in Albemarle by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 36,002 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,439,000 after acquiring an additional 910 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Community Trust NA purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Albemarle Trading Up 2.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.84. The stock has a market cap of $11.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.57. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $111.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $119.17.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. Albemarle had a net margin of 4.02% and a return on equity of 14.53%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $10.32 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post 1.97 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.66%. This is a boost from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.18%.

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.