Evercore Issues Positive Forecast for Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Stock Price

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its target price boosted by Evercore from $100.00 to $180.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on ALB. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Albemarle from $200.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Truist Financial raised Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $125.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. HSBC raised Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 19th. Bank of America raised Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $167.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Albemarle from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $167.52.

Albemarle Trading Up 1.2%

NYSE ALB opened at $170.92 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -29.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.44. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $160.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $117.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 1.57. Albemarle has a one year low of $49.43 and a one year high of $195.68.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.53) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.40) by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 10.74% and a positive return on equity of 0.41%. Albemarle’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($1.09) earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Albemarle will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 25.5% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,223 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $229,000 after buying an additional 654 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 26.2% during the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 4,798 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $346,000 after acquiring an additional 996 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association bought a new stake in Albemarle during the first quarter worth $208,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in Albemarle in the 1st quarter valued at $411,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Albemarle by 19.0% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 6,525 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $410,000 after purchasing an additional 1,042 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Albemarle Company Profile

Albemarle Corporation is a leading global specialty chemicals company primarily engaged in the production and distribution of lithium, bromine, and catalysts. Its lithium segment supplies key components used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics, and grid storage systems. The company’s bromine specialty products serve a wide range of industries, including oil and gas drilling fluids, fire safety solutions, and water treatment. In its catalysts division, Albemarle provides products for petroleum refining, chemical processing and emissions control.

Founded in 1994 as a spin-off from Ethyl Corporation, Albemarle has grown through strategic acquisitions and capacity expansions to become one of the world’s foremost chemical producers.