Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Earns Sector Weight Rating from KeyCorp

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB)‘s stock had its “sector weight” rating reaffirmed by KeyCorp in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on ALB. Baird R W cut shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Piper Sandler set a $68.00 price target on shares of Albemarle and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. UBS Group set a $57.00 price target on shares of Albemarle and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $75.00 to $65.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Albemarle from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $91.68.

Albemarle Trading Down 1.5%

Albemarle stock opened at $67.89 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.11, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Albemarle has a 12 month low of $49.43 and a 12 month high of $113.91. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.41. The firm has a market cap of $7.99 billion, a PE ratio of -7.28 and a beta of 1.63.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.83) by $0.94. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 18.61% and a negative return on equity of 1.88%. The firm had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.04 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Albemarle will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ALB. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 29,685 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,555,000 after acquiring an additional 973 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter worth $39,405,000. Allstate Corp purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter worth $305,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter worth $218,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 169,206 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $14,565,000 after acquiring an additional 9,953 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

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.