Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Given New $111.00 Price Target at Royal Bank of Canada

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its price objective decreased by Royal Bank of Canada from $128.00 to $111.00 in a research report released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on ALB. Wells Fargo & Company cut Albemarle from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Albemarle from $137.00 to $100.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Albemarle from $188.00 to $178.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Albemarle from $128.00 to $103.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler cut 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $128.11.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of ALB traded down $0.18 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $81.65. 2,165,826 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,089,660. The company has a market capitalization of $9.60 billion, a PE ratio of 29.69, a PEG ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.91. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $97.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $114.16. Albemarle has a one year low of $79.00 and a one year high of $203.62.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.49). The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 6.38% and a negative net margin of 6.72%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $7.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This is a positive change from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is presently 58.91%.

Insider Transactions at Albemarle

In other news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of Albemarle 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,802 shares in the company, valued at $921,875.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of Albemarle 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,802 shares in the company, valued at $921,875.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,743 shares in the company, valued at $626,882.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albemarle

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 128.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 3,979,885 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 176.6% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 1,588,986 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $209,333,000 after acquiring an additional 3,662,117 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $377,341,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Albemarle by 47.4% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,185,734 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $749,235,000 after purchasing an additional 1,667,164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its position in Albemarle by 31.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,800,219 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $838,025,000 after purchasing an additional 1,396,624 shares during the last quarter. 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.