Royal Bank Of Canada Issues Positive Forecast for Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Stock Price

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its price objective raised by analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $159.00 to $200.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,MarketScreener reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s price target points to a potential upside of 12.85% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on ALB. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Stephens reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday. Zacks Research raised Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $100.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $148.96.

Albemarle Price Performance

Albemarle stock opened at $177.23 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.27. Albemarle has a 52 week low of $49.43 and a 52 week high of $179.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.86 billion, a P/E ratio of -112.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.22 and a beta of 1.41. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $139.27 and a 200-day moving average of $103.02.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.19) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.92) by $0.73. Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 0.10% and a negative net margin of 0.43%.The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($1.55) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Albemarle will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albemarle

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ALB. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Albemarle by 2.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,954,331 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $184,782,000 after buying an additional 59,104 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 48.5% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,870,110 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $179,870,000 after acquiring an additional 937,538 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 3rd quarter valued at about $138,723,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 3.7% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,475,832 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $119,710,000 after purchasing an additional 52,698 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 1.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,263,734 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $102,464,000 after purchasing an additional 22,856 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

About Albemarle

Albemarle Corporation is a leading global specialty chemicals company primarily engaged in the production and distribution of lithium, bromine, and catalysts. Its lithium segment supplies key components used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics, and grid storage systems. The company’s bromine specialty products serve a wide range of industries, including oil and gas drilling fluids, fire safety solutions, and water treatment. In its catalysts division, Albemarle provides products for petroleum refining, chemical processing and emissions control.

Founded in 1994 as a spin-off from Ethyl Corporation, Albemarle has grown through strategic acquisitions and capacity expansions to become one of the world’s foremost chemical producers.