Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Price Target Raised to $107.00

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its price target raised by research analysts at UBS Group from $85.00 to $107.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. UBS Group’s price objective would suggest a potential downside of 8.02% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Albemarle from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $100.00 price target (up from $95.00) on shares of Albemarle in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $105.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Albemarle from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 16th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Albemarle from $92.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Albemarle currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.38.

Albemarle Trading Up 5.4%

Shares of Albemarle stock traded up $6.01 on Thursday, reaching $116.33. The company had a trading volume of 4,171,107 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,572,425. Albemarle has a 1 year low of $49.43 and a 1 year high of $119.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 1.47. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $89.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.37. The firm has a market cap of $13.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.49 and a beta of 1.70.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.19) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.92) by $0.73. The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.27 billion. Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.87% and a negative net margin of 18.61%.Albemarle’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($1.55) EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Albemarle will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 10,050.0% in the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 406 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC increased its stake in Albemarle by 36.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 413 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. National Pension Service raised its position in Albemarle by 74.5% during the 1st quarter. National Pension Service now owns 452 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the first quarter valued at about $36,000. 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.