Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Shares Up 4.1%

Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) rose 4.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $88.43 and last traded at $87.69. Approximately 982,865 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 3,119,374 shares. The stock had previously closed at $84.22.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on ALB. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Albemarle from $188.00 to $178.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. HSBC cut shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Baird R W lowered Albemarle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Albemarle from $115.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on Albemarle from $135.00 to $126.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Albemarle has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $122.60.

Albemarle Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $10.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.57. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $91.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $111.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.91.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative net margin of 6.72% and a positive return on equity of 6.38%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $7.33 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 39.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. 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 issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This is a positive change from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is presently 58.91%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. MONECO Advisors LLC grew its position in Albemarle by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 4,131 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $597,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 239.7% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 53,793 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,138,000 after purchasing an additional 37,958 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 22.5% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 190,526 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $25,100,000 after purchasing an additional 35,003 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 5,063 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $731,000 after buying an additional 470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commerce Bank boosted its stake in Albemarle by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 10,667 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,541,000 after buying an additional 525 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

About Albemarle

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.