Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Given New $103.00 Price Target at Mizuho

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its price objective reduced by Mizuho from $128.00 to $103.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on ALB. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Albemarle from $170.00 to $127.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Albemarle from $124.00 to $109.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Scotiabank reissued a sector perform rating and issued a $135.00 target price (down from $150.00) on shares of Albemarle in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Albemarle from $159.00 to $151.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Albemarle from $122.00 to $95.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $139.10.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of Albemarle stock opened at $93.65 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.84 and a quick ratio of 1.91. The business has a 50-day moving average of $103.52 and a 200 day moving average of $115.94. Albemarle has a 12 month low of $90.02 and a 12 month high of $215.82.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its 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 business had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Albemarle had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 4.02%. Albemarle’s quarterly revenue was down 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $10.32 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Albemarle will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.73%. This is a boost from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albemarle

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. WFA Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. USCF Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. USCF Advisers LLC now owns 200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in Albemarle by 2,942.9% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 213 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 92.87% of the stock is 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.