Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-seven analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $203.0417.

ALB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Albemarle from $216.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Albemarle from $190.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Albemarle from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $230.00 to $264.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 16,393 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.72, for a total value of $3,011,721.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 87,519 shares in the company, valued at $16,078,990.68. The trade was a 15.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Albemarle

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Strategic Advocates LLC acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. MH & Associates Securities Management Corp ADV acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. BOKF NA increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 5,771.4% during the third quarter. BOKF NA now owns 411 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Albemarle during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Albemarle by 536.7% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 573 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 483 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Albemarle Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of ALB opened at $149.68 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market cap of $17.65 billion, a P/E ratio of -43.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.30. Albemarle has a 1 year low of $55.90 and a 1 year high of $221.00. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $182.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $166.49.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $1.71. Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 5.22% and a negative net margin of 5.00%.The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.18) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Albemarle will post 12.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be given a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is -47.51%.

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.