Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Price Target Raised to $145.00 at BMO Capital Markets

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its price target boosted by stock analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $136.00 to $145.00 in a report released on Monday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ target price points to a potential upside of 9.35% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on ALB. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $92.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price 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. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Albemarle from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on Albemarle from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, eighteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.71.

Albemarle Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of ALB opened at $132.60 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 2.27 and a quick ratio of 1.51. Albemarle has a 1-year low of $49.43 and a 1-year high of $136.10. The stock has a market cap of $15.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -83.38 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $109.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $86.18.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its earnings results 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 positive return on equity of 0.10% and a negative net margin of 0.43%.The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.55) EPS. Albemarle’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Albemarle will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albemarle

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 8.6% in the first quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 15,949 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,149,000 after buying an additional 1,263 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 28.7% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,706 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $110,814,000 after purchasing an additional 343,210 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Albemarle by 7.3% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 31,849 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,294,000 after buying an additional 2,164 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC acquired a new stake in Albemarle during the first quarter valued at approximately $811,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP bought a new position in Albemarle during the 1st quarter worth approximately $282,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.