Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Upgraded by Berenberg Bank to Buy

Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $160.00 price objective on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $130.00.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Albemarle from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $220.00 to $130.00 in a report on Monday, January 29th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America upgraded shares of Albemarle from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $137.00 to $156.00 in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $137.00 to $125.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $140.00 to $138.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Albemarle currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $175.05.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB opened at $130.31 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.32 billion, a PE ratio of 9.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.62. Albemarle has a one year low of $106.69 and a one year high of $247.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $122.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $131.57.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.86. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. Albemarle had a net margin of 16.36% and a return on equity of 26.62%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $8.62 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Albemarle will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is 11.99%.

Institutional Trading of Albemarle

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eagle Strategies LLC grew its stake in Albemarle by 149.3% during the third quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 14,058 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,391,000 after buying an additional 8,420 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 5.4% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 283,876 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $48,270,000 after purchasing an additional 14,593 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 80.3% during the third quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,757 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,359,000 after purchasing an additional 8,799 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 8.9% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 412,821 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $70,179,000 after purchasing an additional 33,662 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 235.9% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 12,107 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,749,000 after purchasing an additional 8,503 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.