Royal Bank Of Canada Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Stock

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its price objective increased by equities research analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $117.00 to $120.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 17.08% from the company’s current price.

ALB has been the topic of several other reports. Wall Street Zen raised Albemarle from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 16th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $89.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 6th. Baird R W lowered shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. HSBC boosted their target price on Albemarle from $75.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Albemarle in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $96.52.

Albemarle Trading Up 5.5%

ALB traded up $5.31 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $102.49. 1,100,462 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,558,698. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $88.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.48. Albemarle has a 1-year low of $49.43 and a 1-year high of $113.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.98 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.19) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.92) by $0.73. Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.87% and a negative net margin of 18.61%.The company had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.55) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Albemarle will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ALB. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 10.7% during the 1st quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 50,326 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,624,000 after buying an additional 4,872 shares in the last quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC boosted its position in Albemarle by 5.2% during the first quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 243,036 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $17,503,000 after buying an additional 12,014 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 3.6% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 184,426 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $13,282,000 after buying an additional 6,487 shares during the period. Bard Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,850,000. Finally, Leibman Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 14.6% during the 2nd quarter. Leibman Financial Services Inc. now owns 48,871 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,063,000 after acquiring an additional 6,237 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.