Barclays Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Stock Price

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its target price lowered by stock analysts at Barclays from $109.00 to $95.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective indicates a potential downside of 4.42% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on ALB. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Albemarle from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 5th. Zacks Research lowered Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on Albemarle from $157.00 to $129.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $175.00 price target on shares of Albemarle in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Albemarle from $160.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $178.77.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALB traded up $1.02 on Friday, reaching $99.39. 709,579 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,467,139. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.08, a PEG ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.34. Albemarle has a fifty-two week low of $89.77 and a fifty-two week high of $221.00. The business’s 50-day moving average is $108.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $148.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.05. Albemarle had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 15.23%. The company had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.19) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Albemarle will post 11.15 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ALB. Primecap Management Co. CA bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the second quarter valued at approximately $358,101,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in Albemarle in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $131,049,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Albemarle in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $103,268,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its holdings in Albemarle by 2,981.1% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 733,793 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $77,621,000 after buying an additional 709,977 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in Albemarle by 69.7% in the 3rd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,436,117 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $151,912,000 after acquiring an additional 589,787 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Company Profile

Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB) is a global specialty chemicals company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company develops, manufactures, and markets engineered chemicals used in energy storage, transportation, refining, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, consumer products, and other industrial applications.

Albemarle is one of the world’s major producers of lithium and supplies lithium compounds, including lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide, for use in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics, and grid energy-storage systems.