Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Given New $85.00 Price Target at Truist Financial

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its price objective reduced by Truist Financial from $96.00 to $85.00 in a report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Albemarle from $133.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Albemarle from $150.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group lowered their price target on Albemarle from $99.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. KeyCorp lowered their price target on Albemarle from $132.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Albemarle from $103.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.38.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $81.20 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $9.54 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 2.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Albemarle has a 52 week low of $71.97 and a 52 week high of $143.19. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.32.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative net margin of 28.80% and a positive return on equity of 1.67%. Equities research analysts forecast that Albemarle will post -1.55 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.12, for a total transaction of $255,328.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 73,747 shares in the company, valued at $7,457,296.64. This represents a 3.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Albemarle

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Albemarle by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,594,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,256,294,000 after buying an additional 359,014 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 3,833,984 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $363,117,000 after purchasing an additional 20,930 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,795,891 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $240,044,000 after purchasing an additional 53,985 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,432,153 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $123,280,000 after purchasing an additional 8,243 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,290,797 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $111,112,000 after purchasing an additional 139,600 shares during the period. 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.