Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Given New $140.00 Price Target at Argus

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its price target boosted by Argus from $120.00 to $140.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

ALB has been the topic of a number of other reports. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Albemarle from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Albemarle from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Albemarle from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Baird R W downgraded Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.21.

Albemarle Stock Performance

ALB opened at $117.91 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. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $91.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.69. Albemarle has a 1 year low of $49.43 and a 1 year high of $125.85. The company has a market capitalization of $13.88 billion, a PE ratio of -12.65 and a beta of 1.70.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.19) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.92) by $0.73. Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.87% and a negative net margin of 18.61%.The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($1.55) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Albemarle will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -101.89%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ALB. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 10,050.0% in the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 406 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its stake 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 valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service boosted its position in Albemarle by 74.5% in the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 452 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. BOKF NA grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 5,771.4% during the third quarter. BOKF NA now owns 411 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cromwell Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 36.8% during the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 413 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

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.