Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Issues Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.09 EPS

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.09), Briefing.com reports. Albemarle had a return on equity of 26.62% and a net margin of 16.36%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $10.32 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 47.3% on a year-over-year basis. Albemarle updated its FY 2024 guidance to EPS.

Albemarle Trading Up 4.2 %

Shares of NYSE ALB traded up $4.94 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $123.94. The stock had a trading volume of 2,009,758 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,208,599. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.47. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $122.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $126.82. The firm has a market cap of $14.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.65. Albemarle has a 1 year low of $106.69 and a 1 year high of $247.44.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is 11.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ALB shares. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective 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. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Vertical Research lowered shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Albemarle from $140.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $137.00 to $156.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Albemarle has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $175.85.

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.