Rothschild & Co Redburn Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Stock

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its price target upped by investment analysts at Rothschild & Co Redburn from $135.00 to $158.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,MarketScreener reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Rothschild & Co Redburn’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 29.39% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Albemarle from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Zacks Research cut Albemarle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Albemarle from $92.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Albemarle from $87.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, eighteen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.21.

Albemarle Stock Down 3.5%

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $122.11 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $102.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.27. Albemarle has a 52-week low of $49.43 and a 52-week high of $132.90. The company has a market capitalization of $14.37 billion, a P/E ratio of -76.61 and a beta of 1.43.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.19) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.92) by $0.73. The company had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.27 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 0.43% and a positive return on equity of 0.10%. Albemarle’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($1.55) earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Albemarle will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Albemarle

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Albemarle in the third quarter valued at approximately $138,723,000. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Albemarle by 48.5% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,870,110 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $179,870,000 after buying an additional 937,538 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Albemarle by 22,047.4% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 713,812 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $44,613,000 after buying an additional 710,589 shares during the last quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Albemarle in the 3rd quarter valued at $47,088,000. Finally, FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in Albemarle during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,903,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.