Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Stock Lifted to Hold by Barclays

Barclays upgraded shares of Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) to a hold rating in a research note published on Monday morning,Zacks reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Albemarle from $244.00 to $211.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $166.00 to $157.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 10th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.96.

Albemarle Stock Up 0.3%

NYSE ALB opened at $97.91 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 362.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.36. Albemarle has a 52 week low of $88.01 and a 52 week high of $221.00. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $120.61 and a 200-day moving average of $146.64.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly 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. Albemarle had a return on equity of 10.96% and a net margin of 3.09%. The business had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.11 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Albemarle will post 11.25 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.7%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently 607.41%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

Hedge funds and other 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 2nd quarter valued at approximately $4,246,000. NFJ Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in Albemarle during the second quarter valued at approximately $23,328,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 30,541 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in Albemarle by 47.4% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 230,690 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $32,655,000 after purchasing an additional 74,202 shares during the period. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. bought a new stake in Albemarle in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,012,000. 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 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.