Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Stock

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its price target lifted by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $100.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective would indicate a potential downside of 9.34% from the company’s previous close.

ALB has been the topic of a number of other reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $105.00 to $124.00 in a report on Monday, October 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target 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. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Albemarle from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 16th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $100.00 target price (up previously from $95.00) on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.71.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB opened at $110.30 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.98 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.83 and a beta of 1.70. Albemarle has a 52 week low of $49.43 and a 52 week high of $113.91. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $89.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 2.31.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.19) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.92) by $0.73. The company had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.27 billion. Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.87% and a negative net margin of 18.61%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($1.55) earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Albemarle will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Albemarle

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Per Stirling Capital Management LLC. raised its stake in Albemarle by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Per Stirling Capital Management LLC. now owns 3,332 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $270,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the third quarter valued at approximately $275,000. JT Stratford LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $831,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,475,832 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $119,710,000 after buying an additional 52,698 shares during the period. Finally, Insigneo Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Albemarle during the 3rd quarter valued at $217,000. 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.