Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Trading Down 3.8% – Should You Sell?

Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB)’s stock price fell 3.8% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $118.00 and last traded at $117.4320. Approximately 292,683 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 2,440,719 shares. The stock had previously closed at $122.11.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALB has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Berenberg Bank raised their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $153.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Vertical Research raised shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $224.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $160.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on Albemarle from $245.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 7th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $190.04.

Albemarle Stock Down 2.8%

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $127.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $157.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 2.09. The firm has a market cap of $14.00 billion, a PE ratio of 439.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.33.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.55. Albemarle had a net margin of 3.09% and a return on equity of 10.96%. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.11 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post 11.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This is an increase from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 600.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in Albemarle by 13,478.5% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 18,483,447 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,495,820,000 after buying an additional 18,347,324 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle in the 2nd quarter valued at $358,101,000. Earnest Partners LLC raised its position 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 last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Albemarle by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,263,734 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $102,464,000 after purchasing an additional 22,856 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in 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 worth $175,542,000 after purchasing an additional 453,881 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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 products used in energy storage, transportation, electronics, construction, agriculture, pharmaceuticals and other industrial applications. The company operates through three principal businesses: Energy Storage, Specialties and Ketjen.

Albemarle is one of the major producers of lithium and lithium compounds, including lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide, which are used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics and stationary energy storage systems.