Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) PT Raised to $157.00 at Royal Bank of Canada

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its price objective hoisted by Royal Bank of Canada from $138.00 to $157.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of Albemarle from a neutral rating to a buy rating and upped their price target for the stock from $137.00 to $156.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Vertical Research cut shares of Albemarle from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $145.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $191.00 to $188.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Albemarle from $112.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen cut Albemarle from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and lowered their target price for the company from $220.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $171.80.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of Albemarle stock opened at $130.78 on Monday. Albemarle has a 1-year low of $106.69 and a 1-year high of $247.44. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $123.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $125.95. The company has a current ratio of 2.84, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.65.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 earnings per share 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 net margin of 4.02% and a return on equity of 14.53%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 47.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $10.32 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Albemarle will post 2.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is 58.18%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albemarle

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ALB. Eagle Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 149.3% in the third quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 14,058 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,391,000 after buying an additional 8,420 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 283,876 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $48,270,000 after purchasing an additional 14,593 shares during the last quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 430.7% in the 4th quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 43,119 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $6,230,000 after purchasing an additional 34,994 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Albemarle by 80.3% in the 3rd quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,757 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,359,000 after purchasing an additional 8,799 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Albemarle by 8.9% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 412,821 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $70,179,000 after purchasing an additional 33,662 shares during the period. 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.