Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Given New $87.00 Price Target at KeyCorp

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its target price trimmed by KeyCorp from $95.00 to $87.00 in a research note released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $77.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Piper Sandler set a $68.00 target price on shares of Albemarle and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. UBS Group set a $57.00 target price on shares of Albemarle and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $85.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $91.62.

Albemarle Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $71.92 on Monday. Albemarle has a 52-week low of $49.43 and a 52-week high of $113.91. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $61.18 and a 200 day moving average of $70.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.46 billion, a PE ratio of -6.47 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 2.11.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.62) by $0.44. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 22.39% and a negative return on equity of 1.92%. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.26 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Albemarle will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently -14.57%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 340.6% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 304 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the period. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the first quarter worth $32,000. National Pension Service increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 74.5% in the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 452 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

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.