Scotiabank Trims Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Target Price to $85.00

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its price target cut by Scotiabank from $135.00 to $85.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector perform rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Scotiabank also issued estimates for Albemarle’s Q3 2024 earnings at $0.36 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $3.10 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $4.70 EPS.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Mizuho dropped their target price on Albemarle from $128.00 to $103.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. KeyCorp dropped their target price on Albemarle from $151.00 to $132.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Monday. HSBC lowered Albemarle from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $95.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Albemarle from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and dropped their target price for the company from $145.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Albemarle to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $128.11.

Albemarle Price Performance

ALB stock opened at $81.83 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.91. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $98.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $114.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.62 billion, a PE ratio of 29.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.57. Albemarle has a 1 year low of $79.00 and a 1 year high of $203.62.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.49). Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 6.38% and a negative net margin of 6.72%. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $7.33 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Albemarle will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. This is a boost from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is 58.91%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total value of $114,251.79. Following 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total transaction of $114,251.79. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,802 shares in the company, valued at $921,875.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total value of $194,950.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,743 shares in the company, 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 Investors Weigh In On Albemarle

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ALB. Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 32,252 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,660,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 23.2% during the 4th quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,078 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $445,000 after purchasing an additional 580 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 60.4% during the 4th quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 60,931 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $9,098,000 after purchasing an additional 22,941 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 52,819 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $7,631,000 after purchasing an additional 1,323 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,407 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $348,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.