KeyCorp Lowers Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Price Target to $151.00

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its price objective dropped by analysts at KeyCorp from $159.00 to $151.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. KeyCorp’s target price points to a potential upside of 54.16% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on ALB. Bank of America upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $137.00 to $156.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $122.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $188.00 to $178.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $135.00 target price (down previously from $150.00) on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $150.16.

Albemarle Stock Performance

ALB opened at $97.95 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market cap of $11.51 billion, a PE ratio of 35.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.57. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $113.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $120.68. Albemarle has a fifty-two week low of $90.32 and a fifty-two week high of $246.71.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Albemarle had a net margin of 4.02% and a return on equity of 14.53%. The firm’s revenue was down 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $10.32 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Albemarle will post 2.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Albemarle

In other news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total transaction of $114,251.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,802 shares in the company, valued at $921,875.06. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Albemarle news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total value of $114,251.79. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $921,875.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total transaction of $194,950.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $626,882.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Albemarle

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ALB. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Albemarle by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,570,906 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $267,117,000 after buying an additional 146,450 shares during the period. Comerica Bank bought a new position in Albemarle during the third quarter worth about $4,897,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 12.2% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 12,574 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,138,000 after purchasing an additional 1,370 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 283,876 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $48,270,000 after purchasing an additional 14,593 shares during the period. Finally, Bar Harbor Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 91.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bar Harbor Wealth Management now owns 4,627 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $787,000 after buying an additional 2,206 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Company Profile

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.