Royal Bank Of Canada Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Stock

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its target price boosted by research analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $80.00 to $117.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 26.15% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on ALB. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Baird R W downgraded shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Albemarle in a report on Thursday, October 9th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $89.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $74.00 target price on shares of Albemarle and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $91.41.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB stock opened at $92.75 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $83.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.09. 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 firm has a market cap of $10.91 billion, a PE ratio of -9.95 and a beta of 1.65. Albemarle has a 12 month low of $49.43 and a 12 month high of $113.91.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC boosted 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 acquiring an additional 4,872 shares during the period. Grandfield & Dodd LLC grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 12,014 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle in the first quarter valued at about $271,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 6,487 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sowell Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle in the first quarter valued at about $303,000. 92.87% of the stock is 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.