Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Shares Gap Up to $116.88

Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $116.88, but opened at $122.50. Albemarle shares last traded at $124.30, with a volume of 720,478 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Albemarle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $112.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $137.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $155.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $168.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Albemarle presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $175.05.

Albemarle Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $122.79 and a 200-day moving average of $127.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.34, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.62.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.86. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. Albemarle had a return on equity of 26.62% and a net margin of 16.36%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $8.62 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 3.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. 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 1.28%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.99%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 11.6% in the first quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. now owns 11,190 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,478,000 after buying an additional 1,160 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 13,112 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,727,000 after buying an additional 1,005 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its position in Albemarle by 29.0% during the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 67,839 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $8,937,000 after buying an additional 15,257 shares during the last quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 1st quarter worth $570,000. Finally, Clear Creek Financial Management LLC grew its stake in Albemarle by 120.7% in the 1st quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 3,515 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $463,000 after acquiring an additional 1,922 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

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.