Robert W. Baird Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Stock

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its price target raised by equities researchers at Robert W. Baird from $58.00 to $68.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has an “underperform” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s target price points to a potential downside of 19.87% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on ALB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Albemarle from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. TD Securities decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho set a $76.00 price target on shares of Albemarle in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $74.00 price target on shares of Albemarle and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Albemarle in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $86.47.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of ALB opened at $84.87 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $9.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.11 and a beta of 1.63. Albemarle has a twelve month low of $49.43 and a twelve month high of $113.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a 50 day moving average of $73.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $68.13.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.83) by $0.94. The business had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 18.61% and a negative return on equity of 1.87%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.04 earnings per share. Albemarle has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Albemarle will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 10.7% in the first quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 50,326 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,624,000 after purchasing an additional 4,872 shares during the period. Grandfield & Dodd LLC grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 5.2% in the first quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 243,036 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $17,503,000 after purchasing an additional 12,014 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the first quarter valued at about $271,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 3.6% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 184,426 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $13,282,000 after purchasing an additional 6,487 shares during the period. Finally, Sowell Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the first quarter valued at about $303,000. 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.