Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) Receives $161.16 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the thirty research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $161.16.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ALB shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Albemarle from $145.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Monday, December 29th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Albemarle in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $118.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Truist Financial upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $125.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. PGGM Investments boosted its stake in Albemarle by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 1,185,005 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $96,080,000 after purchasing an additional 115,081 shares in the last quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Albemarle in the third quarter worth about $3,313,000. CWM LLC raised its holdings in Albemarle by 14.8% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 165,074 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $13,384,000 after buying an additional 21,257 shares during the last quarter. AXQ Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Albemarle in the second quarter worth approximately $267,000. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 11.4% during the second quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 866,575 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $54,308,000 after buying an additional 88,457 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $170.45 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.27, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $150.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $109.17. The company has a market cap of $20.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -107.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 1.41. Albemarle has a 12 month low of $49.43 and a 12 month high of $195.68.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.19) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.92) by $0.73. The company had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.27 billion. Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 0.10% and a negative net margin of 0.43%.Albemarle’s revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($1.55) EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Albemarle will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

About Albemarle

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.