Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-seven analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have issued a hold recommendation, fourteen have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $203.0417.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ALB. Wall Street Zen raised Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. Argus lifted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $185.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Albemarle from $253.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $230.00 to $244.00 in a report on Monday, May 11th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 16,393 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.72, for a total transaction of $3,011,721.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 87,519 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,078,990.68. This represents a 15.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ALB. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,630,394 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $230,603,000 after buying an additional 207,770 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Albemarle by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,475,832 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $119,710,000 after acquiring an additional 52,698 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Albemarle by 1.8% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,263,734 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $102,464,000 after acquiring an additional 22,856 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Albemarle by 57.7% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,241,106 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $175,542,000 after acquiring an additional 453,881 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at $165,271,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Albemarle Price Performance

NYSE:ALB opened at $155.73 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $183.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $166.10. The firm has a market cap of $18.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -45.67, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 2.07. Albemarle has a one year low of $55.90 and a one year high of $221.00.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by $1.71. Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 5.22% and a negative net margin of 5.00%.The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.18) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Albemarle will post 12.39 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently -47.51%.

Albemarle Company Profile

Albemarle Corporation is a leading global specialty chemicals company primarily engaged in the production and distribution of lithium, bromine, and catalysts. Its lithium segment supplies key components used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics, and grid storage systems. The company’s bromine specialty products serve a wide range of industries, including oil and gas drilling fluids, fire safety solutions, and water treatment. In its catalysts division, Albemarle provides products for petroleum refining, chemical processing and emissions control.

Founded in 1994 as a spin-off from Ethyl Corporation, Albemarle has grown through strategic acquisitions and capacity expansions to become one of the world’s foremost chemical producers.