Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Price Target Cut to $103.00 by Analysts at Mizuho

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its price target decreased by Mizuho from $128.00 to $103.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday.

ALB has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $157.00 to $128.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America upgraded shares of Albemarle from a neutral rating to a buy rating and upped their price target for the stock from $137.00 to $156.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Albemarle from $188.00 to $178.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. HSBC cut Albemarle from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $95.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut Albemarle from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $133.79.

Albemarle Trading Down 6.6 %

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $86.99 on Wednesday. Albemarle has a 52-week low of $82.25 and a 52-week high of $214.99. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $102.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $115.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market cap of $10.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.63, a PEG ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.57.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative net margin of 6.72% and a positive return on equity of 6.38%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $7.33 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 39.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Albemarle will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.405 dividend. This is a boost from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Albemarle news, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total value of $194,950.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,743 shares in the company, valued at $626,882.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total value of $194,950.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $626,882.31. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total transaction of $114,251.79. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $921,875.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.38% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Albemarle

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. JB Capital LLC purchased a new position in Albemarle in the fourth quarter worth $203,000. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 35,507 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,130,000 after purchasing an additional 3,300 shares during the period. TIAA Trust National Association grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 3,778 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $546,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 147.2% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 262 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lewis Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter valued at about $588,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Albemarle Company Profile

Albemarle Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets engineered specialty chemicals worldwide. It operates through three segments: Energy Storage, Specialties and Ketjen. The Energy Storage segment offers lithium compounds, including lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide, and lithium chloride; technical services for the handling and use of reactive lithium products; and lithium-containing by-products recycling services.