Scotiabank Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Stock

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its price target hoisted by equities research analysts at Scotiabank from $70.00 to $85.00 in a research note issued on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has a “sector perform” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Scotiabank’s price objective would suggest a potential downside of 18.07% from the stock’s current price.

ALB has been the subject of several other reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Albemarle from $74.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Rothschild Redb raised shares of Albemarle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Albemarle from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 16th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $78.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.71.

Albemarle Stock Performance

NYSE ALB opened at $103.75 on Monday. 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 has a 1-year low of $49.43 and a 1-year high of $113.91. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $88.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.21 billion, a PE ratio of -11.13 and a beta of 1.70.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.19) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.92) by $0.73. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 18.61% and a negative return on equity of 1.87%. The business had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.27 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted ($1.55) EPS. The business’s revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Albemarle will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Albemarle

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 10,050.0% during the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 406 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC increased its holdings in Albemarle by 7,257.1% in the 2nd 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 raised its position in 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 during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 36.8% during the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 413 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new position in Albemarle during the first quarter valued at $36,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.