Citigroup Cuts Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Price Target to $100.00

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its target price decreased by Citigroup from $137.00 to $100.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on ALB. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on Albemarle from $159.00 to $151.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Albemarle from $112.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $157.00 target price on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Albemarle from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and reduced their target price for the company from $145.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $170.00 to $127.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Three 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Albemarle has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $148.32.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB stock opened at $97.87 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.57. Albemarle has a 12-month low of $90.32 and a 12-month high of $246.00. The business’s 50 day moving average is $113.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $119.88. The company has a current ratio of 2.84, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Albemarle had a net margin of 4.02% and a return on equity of 14.53%. Albemarle’s revenue was down 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $10.32 EPS. Analysts expect that Albemarle will post 1.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the business’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 owns 6,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $921,875.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total value of $114,251.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now 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 is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total transaction of $194,950.75. Following the sale, 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. 0.38% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albemarle

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ALB. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,083,522 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,034,787,000 after buying an additional 82,874 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 128.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 7,076,357 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,022,420,000 after purchasing an additional 3,979,885 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Albemarle by 47.4% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,185,734 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $749,235,000 after buying an additional 1,667,164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA raised its stake in Albemarle by 55.8% in the fourth quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 3,476,674 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $502,310,000 after buying an additional 1,245,719 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

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.