Weiss Ratings Reiterates Sell (D-) Rating for Albemarle (NYSE:ALB)

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB)‘s stock had its “sell (d-)” rating reiterated by analysts at Weiss Ratings in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Several other analysts also recently commented on ALB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Albemarle from $89.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $74.00 target price on shares of Albemarle and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. HSBC raised their target price on shares of Albemarle from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $87.35.

Albemarle Stock Up 5.1%

Shares of ALB stock opened at $96.41 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.34 and a beta of 1.65. Albemarle has a one year low of $49.43 and a one year high of $113.91. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $80.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 1.47.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.83) by $0.94. The firm had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 18.61% and a negative return on equity of 1.87%. The company’s revenue was down 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.04 EPS. Albemarle has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Albemarle will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,672,272 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,056,697,000 after purchasing an additional 77,773 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,954,331 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $184,782,000 after purchasing an additional 59,104 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 48.5% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,870,110 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $179,870,000 after purchasing an additional 937,538 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 28.7% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,706 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $110,814,000 after purchasing an additional 343,210 shares during the period. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 17.4% during the 1st quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 1,167,520 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $84,085,000 after purchasing an additional 173,441 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.