Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Cut to “Equal Weight” at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note released on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $100.00 price objective on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $145.00.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on ALB. Berenberg Bank raised Albemarle from a hold rating to a buy rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $130.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on Albemarle from $168.00 to $162.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 15th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on Albemarle from $159.00 to $151.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Scotiabank restated a sector perform rating and set a $135.00 price target (down from $150.00) on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Albemarle from $170.00 to $127.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $148.32.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $97.87 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $113.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $120.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.84 and a quick ratio of 1.91. Albemarle has a one year low of $90.32 and a one year high of $246.00. The company has a market capitalization of $11.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.57.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.09). Albemarle had a net margin of 4.02% and a return on equity of 14.53%. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $10.32 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Albemarle will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albemarle

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ALB. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,083,522 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,034,787,000 after buying an additional 82,874 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Albemarle by 128.5% during the fourth 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. Capital International Investors raised its position in Albemarle by 31.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,800,219 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $838,025,000 after purchasing an additional 1,396,624 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 47.4% during the fourth 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. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 55.8% during the fourth quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 3,476,674 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $502,310,000 after buying an additional 1,245,719 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.