Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Given New $150.00 Price Target at Scotiabank

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its price objective decreased by stock analysts at Scotiabank from $160.00 to $150.00 in a research note issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “sector outperform” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Scotiabank’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 13.96% from the company’s previous close. Scotiabank also issued estimates for Albemarle’s FY2024 earnings at $2.39 EPS.

ALB has been the topic of several other reports. KeyCorp reduced their target price on Albemarle from $178.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 7th. TD Cowen lowered Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $220.00 to $130.00 in a report on Monday, January 29th. Mizuho increased their target price on Albemarle from $112.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Albemarle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Albemarle from $138.00 to $157.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Albemarle has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $172.05.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $131.62 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.84 and a quick ratio of 1.91. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $123.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $125.90. Albemarle has a one year low of $106.69 and a one year high of $247.44. The firm has a market cap of $15.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.65.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.09). Albemarle had a net margin of 4.02% and a return on equity of 14.53%. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $10.32 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Albemarle will post 2.86 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ALB. Assetmark Inc. acquired a new stake in Albemarle during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. WFA Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in Albemarle during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. USCF Advisers LLC grew its stake in Albemarle by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. USCF Advisers LLC now owns 200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new stake in Albemarle during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in Albemarle by 2,942.9% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 213 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.