Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Monday after Zacks Research downgraded the stock from a hold rating to a strong sell rating. The stock had previously closed at $101.27, but opened at $97.00. Albemarle shares last traded at $97.3470, with a volume of 470,037 shares traded.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $244.00 to $211.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed a “reduce” rating and set a $161.00 price target on shares of Albemarle in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Argus dropped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $230.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.96.

Institutional Trading of Albemarle

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Great Lakes Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the second quarter valued at approximately $4,246,000. NFJ Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the second quarter valued at approximately $23,328,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 161.8% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 49,412 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $6,672,000 after buying an additional 30,541 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 47.4% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 230,690 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $32,655,000 after buying an additional 74,202 shares during the period. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle during the second quarter worth approximately $2,012,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Albemarle Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $11.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 362.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $121.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $147.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

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 for 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 firm’s revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.11 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Albemarle Corporation will post 11.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th were paid a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 11th. This is a positive change from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.4050. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 607.41%.

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.