Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Upgraded at Mizuho

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Mizuho from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a $130.00 price target on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Mizuho’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 32.77% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on ALB. Barclays initiated coverage on Albemarle in a research report on Monday. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $109.00 price objective for the company. Rothschild & Co Redburn reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $188.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $225.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Scotiabank cut their target price on Albemarle from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 9th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Albemarle currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.96.

Albemarle Price Performance

ALB opened at $97.91 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $11.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 362.65, a PEG ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.36. Albemarle has a 1 year low of $88.01 and a 1 year high of $221.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $120.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $146.64.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Evexia Wealth LLC grew its position in Albemarle by 2.3% during the first quarter. Evexia Wealth LLC now owns 2,088 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $387,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Sigma Planning Corp grew its position in Albemarle by 2.3% during the first quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 2,952 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $530,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its position in Albemarle by 0.3% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 27,452 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,928,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Albemarle by 0.6% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 11,664 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,082,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cadence Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Albemarle by 1.8% during the first quarter. Cadence Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,982 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $894,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Albemarle Company Profile

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.