Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty-one ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $133.79.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on ALB shares. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Albemarle to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $128.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $188.00 to $178.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $137.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Berenberg Bank cut shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Wednesday.

Insider Buying and Selling at Albemarle

In other Albemarle news, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total value of $194,950.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $626,882.31. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Albemarle news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total value of $114,251.79. Following 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total transaction of $194,950.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,743 shares in the company, valued at $626,882.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albemarle

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Albemarle by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,083,522 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,034,787,000 after purchasing an additional 82,874 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Albemarle by 128.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 7,076,357 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,022,420,000 after purchasing an additional 3,979,885 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Albemarle by 31.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,800,219 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $838,025,000 after purchasing an additional 1,396,624 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Albemarle by 47.4% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,185,734 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $749,235,000 after purchasing an additional 1,667,164 shares during the period. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 55.8% during the fourth quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 3,476,674 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $502,310,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245,719 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Albemarle Stock Down 6.6 %

Shares of ALB opened at $86.99 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $102.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $115.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.22 billion, a P/E 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 quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.67. Albemarle has a 52 week low of $82.25 and a 52 week high of $214.99.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.49). Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 6.38% and a negative net margin of 6.72%. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $7.33 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Albemarle will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This is a boost from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.91%.

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.