Scotiabank Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Stock

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its price target increased by investment analysts at Scotiabank from $65.00 to $70.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “sector perform” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Scotiabank’s target price indicates a potential upside of 3.03% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. TD Securities lowered their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group increased their price target on Albemarle from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Piper Sandler set a $68.00 price objective on Albemarle and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Baird R W cut Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Albemarle presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.78.

Albemarle Price Performance

Albemarle stock opened at $67.94 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.29 and a beta of 1.63. The business has a 50-day moving average of $66.01 and a 200-day moving average of $69.06. Albemarle has a 1 year low of $49.43 and a 1 year high of $113.91.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 1.87%. The firm had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.04 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Albemarle will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albemarle

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP increased its holdings in Albemarle by 39.3% during the second quarter. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP now owns 28,355 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,777,000 after buying an additional 8,001 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 17,866 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,120,000 after purchasing an additional 682 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 2nd quarter worth about $4,161,000. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 19.8% in the 2nd quarter. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group now owns 14,864 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $932,000 after purchasing an additional 2,455 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Albemarle by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 52,929 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,339,000 after purchasing an additional 2,228 shares during the last quarter. 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.