Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Research Coverage Started at StockNews.com

Equities research analysts at StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Albemarle (NYSE:ALB – Get Rating) in a research report issued on Thursday. The firm set a “hold” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

ALB has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Wednesday, January 25th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $497.00 to $498.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 17th. Vertical Research raised shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $275.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $340.00 to $362.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 25th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Albemarle from $297.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $303.00.

Albemarle Price Performance

ALB stock opened at $214.40 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.89. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $254.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $263.66. Albemarle has a one year low of $185.15 and a one year high of $334.55. The company has a market capitalization of $25.13 billion, a PE ratio of 9.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.57.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The specialty chemicals company reported $8.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.46 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $2.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.60 billion. Albemarle had a net margin of 36.75% and a return on equity of 37.63%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 193.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.01 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Albemarle will post 30.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Albemarle

In other Albemarle news, CFO Scott Tozier sold 417 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.49, for a total value of $106,539.33. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,203 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,213,614.47. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 7,836 shares of company stock worth $1,917,699 in the last 90 days. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albemarle

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 41.2% during the fourth quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 7,534 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,637,000 after buying an additional 2,198 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in Albemarle by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 4,377 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $949,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Albemarle by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 48,825 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $10,588,000 after purchasing an additional 4,951 shares during the period. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the 4th quarter valued at about $347,000. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 28.1% in the 4th quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 1,230,612 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $266,871,000 after purchasing an additional 269,994 shares during the period. 82.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Albemarle

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Albemarle Corp. engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of chemicals for consumer electronics, petroleum refining, utilities, packaging, construction, transportation, pharmaceuticals, crop production, food-safety, and custom chemistry services. It operates through the following business segments: Lithium, Bromine, Catalysts, and All Other.