Wells Fargo & Company Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Stock Price

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its price objective reduced by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $75.00 to $70.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 3.03% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on Albemarle from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Albemarle from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Piper Sandler set a $68.00 price target on Albemarle and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Baird R W cut Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Mizuho set a $76.00 price target on Albemarle in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Albemarle has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.78.

Albemarle Price Performance

ALB opened at $67.94 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $7.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.29 and a beta of 1.63. Albemarle has a 1 year low of $49.43 and a 1 year high of $113.91. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $66.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.06.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.83) by $0.94. Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.87% and a negative net margin of 18.61%. The company 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 firm earned $0.04 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Albemarle will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 29,685 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,555,000 after purchasing an additional 973 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,405,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 169,206 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $14,565,000 after purchasing an additional 9,953 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,795,891 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $240,044,000 after purchasing an additional 53,985 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.