Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Announces Earnings Results

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.49), Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 6.72% and a positive return on equity of 6.38%. Albemarle’s quarterly revenue was down 39.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $7.33 earnings per share. Albemarle updated its FY 2024 guidance to EPS.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of Albemarle stock traded down $6.18 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $86.99. The company had a trading volume of 5,807,206 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,879,290. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $102.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $115.52. The stock has a market cap of $10.22 billion, a PE ratio of 31.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.91. Albemarle has a 1-year low of $82.25 and a 1-year high of $214.99.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. This is an increase from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ALB. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $188.00 to $178.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. HSBC lowered shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $157.00 to $128.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $124.00 to $109.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Albemarle from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $136.35.

Insider Transactions at Albemarle

In related news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total value of $114,251.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $921,875.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total value of $114,251.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $921,875.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total value of $194,950.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $626,882.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.