Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Upgraded at Mizuho

Mizuho upgraded shares of Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $130.00 price objective on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on ALB. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered their price objective on Albemarle from $188.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Argus cut their target price on Albemarle from $230.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Albemarle from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Barclays assumed coverage on Albemarle in a research note on Monday. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $109.00 target price for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Albemarle from $236.00 to $224.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.74.

Albemarle Trading Down 2.8%

NYSE:ALB opened at $95.41 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $119.34 and its 200-day moving average is $145.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 2.09. Albemarle has a 52 week low of $88.01 and a 52 week high of $221.00. The firm has a market cap of $11.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 353.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.36.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.55. The business had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. Albemarle had a net margin of 3.09% and a return on equity of 10.96%. Albemarle’s quarterly revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.11 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Albemarle will post 11.30 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th were issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 11th. This is a positive change from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.4050. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 607.41%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Great Lakes Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Albemarle during the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,246,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 161.8% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 49,412 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $6,672,000 after purchasing an additional 30,541 shares during the last quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the second quarter worth approximately $23,328,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 47.4% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 230,690 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $32,655,000 after purchasing an additional 74,202 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Albemarle in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,012,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Albemarle Company Profile

Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB) is a global specialty chemicals company that develops, manufactures and markets materials used in energy storage, transportation, consumer products and industrial applications. The company is best known for its lithium business, which supplies lithium compounds used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics and energy-storage systems.

Albemarle also produces bromine-based specialty chemicals used in areas such as fire safety, water treatment, pharmaceutical manufacturing and other industrial processes.