Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-two research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $112.38.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Clarkson Capital started coverage on shares of Albemarle in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $133.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $99.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $103.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $81.20 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $88.52 and a 200 day moving average of $92.22. The company has a current ratio of 2.44, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.59. Albemarle has a 12-month low of $71.97 and a 12-month high of $143.19.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative net margin of 28.80% and a positive return on equity of 1.67%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Albemarle will post -1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.12, for a total value of $255,328.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 73,747 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,457,296.64. This represents a 3.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Albemarle

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quarry LP increased its stake in Albemarle by 1,400.0% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 270 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 340.6% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 304 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 606.5% in the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 325 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the period. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Cromwell Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 61.9% in the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 387 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.