Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Given New $80.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its price target increased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $60.00 to $80.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 1st. TD Securities dropped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Albemarle from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Baird R W downgraded shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Albemarle from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.17.

Albemarle Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $83.27 on Monday. Albemarle has a 1-year low of $49.43 and a 1-year high of $113.91. The company has a market cap of $9.80 billion, a PE ratio of -8.93 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a 50-day moving average of $69.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.82.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its 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 net margin of 18.61% and a negative return on equity of 1.87%. The company had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.04 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Albemarle will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently -17.38%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albemarle

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ALB. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 10,050.0% during the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 406 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the first quarter worth $32,000. CVA Family Office LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 7,257.1% during the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 515 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 74.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. 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.