Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Stock Price Expected to Rise, TD Cowen Analyst Says

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its price objective raised by equities research analysts at TD Cowen from $70.00 to $85.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has a “hold” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. TD Cowen’s price objective indicates a potential downside of 5.60% from the stock’s previous close.

ALB has been the topic of several other research reports. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Albemarle from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group decreased their target price on Albemarle from $89.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. HSBC raised their target price on Albemarle from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $87.35.

Albemarle Stock Down 6.7%

Shares of ALB opened at $90.04 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Albemarle has a 12 month low of $49.43 and a 12 month high of $113.91. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $81.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.33. The firm has a market cap of $10.60 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.66 and a beta of 1.65.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.83) by $0.94. Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.87% and a negative net margin of 18.61%.The company had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.04 earnings per share. Albemarle’s quarterly revenue was down 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Albemarle has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Analysts predict that Albemarle will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC raised its position in Albemarle by 10.7% in the first quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 50,326 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,624,000 after purchasing an additional 4,872 shares during the period. Grandfield & Dodd LLC raised its position in Albemarle by 5.2% in the first quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 243,036 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $17,503,000 after purchasing an additional 12,014 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Albemarle in the first quarter valued at $271,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Albemarle by 3.6% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 184,426 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $13,282,000 after purchasing an additional 6,487 shares during the period. Finally, Sowell Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Albemarle in the first quarter valued at $303,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.