Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Monday after Zacks Research downgraded the stock from a hold rating to a strong sell rating. The stock had previously closed at $101.27, but opened at $97.00. Albemarle shares last traded at $97.3470, with a volume of 470,037 shares.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on ALB. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $175.00 price target on shares of Albemarle in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $244.00 to $211.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Monday. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $109.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Argus cut their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $230.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Albemarle presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.96.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albemarle

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Great Lakes Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Albemarle during the second quarter valued at $4,246,000. NFJ Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the second quarter valued at about $23,328,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 161.8% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 49,412 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $6,672,000 after purchasing an additional 30,541 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 47.4% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 230,690 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $32,655,000 after purchasing an additional 74,202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the second quarter worth about $2,012,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Down 0.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $121.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $147.18. The firm has a market cap of $11.54 billion, a PE ratio of 362.18, a PEG ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.36.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.55. Albemarle had a net margin of 3.09% and a return on equity of 10.96%. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.11 EPS. Albemarle’s quarterly revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post 11.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th were issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 11th. This is an increase from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.4050. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently 607.41%.

Albemarle Company Profile

Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB) is a global specialty chemicals company that develops, manufactures and markets materials used in energy storage, transportation, consumer products and industrial applications. The company is best known for its lithium business, which supplies lithium compounds used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics and energy-storage systems.

Albemarle also produces bromine-based specialty chemicals used in areas such as fire safety, water treatment, pharmaceutical manufacturing and other industrial processes.