Morgan Stanley Cuts Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Price Target to $68.00

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its target price reduced by Morgan Stanley from $73.00 to $68.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an underweight rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on ALB. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $99.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $133.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $103.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $171.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.68.

Albemarle Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of ALB opened at $82.51 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $87.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.37, a PEG ratio of 7.04 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Albemarle has a 1-year low of $71.97 and a 1-year high of $143.19.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative net margin of 21.93% and a negative return on equity of 1.72%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Albemarle will post 0.74 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Albemarle

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 38.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,020,590 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $96,660,000 after buying an additional 282,194 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Albemarle by 71.5% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 14,948 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,287,000 after purchasing an additional 6,234 shares in the last quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC lifted its position in Albemarle by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC now owns 28,824 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,481,000 after purchasing an additional 4,899 shares in the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in Albemarle by 28.7% during the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 705,719 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $66,839,000 after purchasing an additional 157,319 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Albemarle by 28.5% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 423,049 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $40,067,000 after purchasing an additional 93,718 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.