Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Saturday.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Albemarle from $245.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Vertical Research raised shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $224.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $188.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated a “reduce” rating and set a $161.00 price target on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $190.26.

Albemarle Stock Performance

NYSE:ALB opened at $134.22 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $133.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $161.80. Albemarle has a 1 year low of $71.25 and a 1 year high of $221.00. The company has a market capitalization of $15.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 497.13 and a beta of 1.33.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.55. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. Albemarle had a return on equity of 10.96% and a net margin of 3.09%.The business’s revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.11 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Albemarle will post 11.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. This is an increase from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is 600.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Primecap Management Co. CA purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the second quarter worth about $358,101,000. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,630,394 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $230,603,000 after purchasing an additional 207,770 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,263,734 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $102,464,000 after purchasing an additional 22,856 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 57.7% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,241,106 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $175,542,000 after purchasing an additional 453,881 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter worth $165,271,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

About Albemarle

Albemarle Corporation is a leading global specialty chemicals company primarily engaged in the production and distribution of lithium, bromine, and catalysts. Its lithium segment supplies key components used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics, and grid storage systems. The company’s bromine specialty products serve a wide range of industries, including oil and gas drilling fluids, fire safety solutions, and water treatment. In its catalysts division, Albemarle provides products for petroleum refining, chemical processing and emissions control.

Founded in 1994 as a spin-off from Ethyl Corporation, Albemarle has grown through strategic acquisitions and capacity expansions to become one of the world’s foremost chemical producers.