Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) PT Lowered to $150.00

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its target price lowered by analysts at Scotiabank from $160.00 to $150.00 in a research note issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “sector outperform” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Scotiabank’s price target indicates a potential upside of 15.24% from the stock’s current price.

ALB has been the topic of several other reports. TD Cowen lowered Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $220.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Albemarle from $138.00 to $157.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Vertical Research downgraded shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, March 8th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $137.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Albemarle currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.80.

Albemarle Trading Up 1.6 %

ALB traded up $2.06 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $130.16. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,388,869 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,210,390. Albemarle has a 52-week low of $106.69 and a 52-week high of $247.44. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $123.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $126.05. The company has a current ratio of 2.84, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market cap of $15.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.38, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.65.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. Albemarle had a net margin of 4.02% and a return on equity of 14.53%. Albemarle’s revenue for the quarter was down 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $10.32 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Albemarle will post 2.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 128.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 7,076,357 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,022,420,000 after purchasing an additional 3,979,885 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $377,341,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 47.4% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,185,734 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $749,235,000 after buying an additional 1,667,164 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 31.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,800,219 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $838,025,000 after acquiring an additional 1,396,624 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 55.8% during the 4th quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 3,476,674 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $502,310,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245,719 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.