Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Given New $132.00 Price Target at Mizuho

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its price target raised by Mizuho from $110.00 to $132.00 in a research report released on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on ALB. Zacks Research cut Albemarle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Albemarle from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Rothschild Redb raised Albemarle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Albemarle in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $118.75.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB opened at $140.44 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $111.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $87.42. Albemarle has a 52-week low of $49.43 and a 52-week high of $140.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company has a market capitalization of $16.53 billion, a PE ratio of -88.33 and a beta of 1.43.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.19) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.92) by $0.73. The business had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.27 billion. Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 0.10% and a negative net margin of 0.43%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($1.55) EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Albemarle will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -101.89%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Albemarle during the 3rd quarter worth $138,723,000. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 48.5% in 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 last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 22,047.4% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 713,812 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $44,613,000 after buying an additional 710,589 shares in the last quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the third quarter worth $47,088,000. Finally, FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Albemarle during the 2nd quarter worth about $32,903,000. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.