Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Price Target Raised to $107.00

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its price objective lifted by UBS Group from $85.00 to $107.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently commented on ALB. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Dbs Bank boosted their target price on Albemarle from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Albemarle from $68.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn began coverage on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Friday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $135.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Albemarle has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.38.

Albemarle Stock Up 0.5%

ALB stock opened at $115.11 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $13.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.35 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $90.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 1.47. Albemarle has a 12 month low of $49.43 and a 12 month high of $119.28.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.19) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.92) by $0.73. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 18.61% and a negative return on equity of 1.87%. 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 business posted ($1.55) earnings per share. Albemarle’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Albemarle will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is -101.89%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Creative Planning boosted its position in Albemarle by 44.8% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 15,550 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,261,000 after purchasing an additional 4,813 shares in the last quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 3rd quarter worth $428,000. Credit Agricole S A purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the 3rd quarter worth about $693,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec acquired a new stake in Albemarle in the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,239,000. Finally, Man Group plc increased its holdings in Albemarle by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. Man Group plc now owns 121,238 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $9,830,000 after acquiring an additional 11,768 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.