Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) Receives $202.54 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-seven ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have issued a hold recommendation, fifteen have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $199.5833.

ALB has been the topic of several research reports. Mizuho dropped their target price on Albemarle from $205.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $245.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $185.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 16,393 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 87,519 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,078,990.68. The trade was a 15.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

Albemarle Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE:ALB opened at $135.27 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Albemarle has a 12 month low of $64.24 and a 12 month high of $221.00. The company has a market cap of $15.95 billion, a PE ratio of -39.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $170.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $169.20.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.18) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Albemarle will post 12.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th were issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 12th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.