Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Price Target Cut to $128.00

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its price target reduced by investment analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $157.00 to $128.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target suggests a potential upside of 37.29% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Albemarle from $124.00 to $109.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Albemarle from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $170.00 to $127.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $137.00 to $156.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $139.10.

Albemarle Stock Up 0.8 %

Albemarle stock traded up $0.72 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $93.23. 601,917 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,007,708. The company has a market cap of $10.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.57. Albemarle has a twelve month low of $90.02 and a twelve month high of $215.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a fifty day moving average of $104.18 and a 200-day moving average of $116.10.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Albemarle had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 4.02%. Albemarle’s quarterly revenue was down 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $10.32 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Albemarle will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Albemarle

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Albemarle by 128.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 7,076,357 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,022,420,000 after purchasing an additional 3,979,885 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in Albemarle by 176.6% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 1,588,986 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $209,333,000 after buying an additional 3,662,117 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at about $377,341,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 47.4% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,185,734 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $749,235,000 after purchasing an additional 1,667,164 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 31.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,800,219 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $838,025,000 after purchasing an additional 1,396,624 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.