Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Upgraded at Mizuho

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) was upgraded by analysts at Mizuho from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has a $130.00 target price on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Mizuho’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 36.26% from the stock’s previous close.

ALB has been the subject of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Albemarle from $160.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Zacks Research downgraded Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their target price on Albemarle from $188.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Albemarle from $245.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on Albemarle from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.74.

Albemarle Trading Down 2.8%

Albemarle stock traded down $2.77 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $95.41. The stock had a trading volume of 2,218,195 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,460,012. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market cap of $11.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 353.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.36. Albemarle has a one year low of $88.01 and a one year high of $221.00. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $120.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $146.07.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.55. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. Albemarle had a return on equity of 10.96% and a net margin of 3.09%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.11 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Albemarle will post 11.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albemarle

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Addison Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 190.1% in the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 293 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the period. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the first quarter valued at about $54,000. Fiduciary Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the second quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp bought a new stake in Albemarle during the second quarter valued at $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

About Albemarle

Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB) is a global specialty chemicals company that develops, manufactures and markets materials used in energy storage, transportation, consumer products and industrial applications. The company is best known for its lithium business, which supplies lithium compounds used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics and energy-storage systems.

Albemarle also produces bromine-based specialty chemicals used in areas such as fire safety, water treatment, pharmaceutical manufacturing and other industrial processes.