Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Stock Rating Upgraded by Bank of America

Bank of America upgraded shares of Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $156.00 price target on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $137.00.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Wolfe Research began coverage on Albemarle in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a peer perform rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $178.00 to $159.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Vertical Research cut shares of Albemarle from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $145.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Albemarle from $140.00 to $138.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Albemarle currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $175.05.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB stock opened at $122.58 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a market cap of $14.41 billion, a PE ratio of 9.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.62. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $122.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $131.04. Albemarle has a 52 week low of $106.69 and a 52 week high of $247.44.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.86. Albemarle had a return on equity of 26.62% and a net margin of 16.36%. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $8.62 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Albemarle will post 3.45 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.99%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,149 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $304,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its position in Albemarle by 51.2% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 130 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 39.0% in the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 164 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 5,212 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,378,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 1,593 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $352,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Albemarle

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.