Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Cut to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on ALB. UBS Group upped their target price on Albemarle from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Evercore lifted their price target on Albemarle from $100.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. HSBC upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 19th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $158.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.24.

Albemarle Price Performance

ALB stock opened at $163.15 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $171.56 and a 200-day moving average of $130.54. Albemarle has a 12-month low of $49.43 and a 12-month high of $206.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a market cap of $19.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.37, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.43.

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

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -28.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 11,783 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.81, for a total value of $2,012,654.23. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 134,628 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,995,808.68. This represents a 8.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Albemarle by 25.5% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,223 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $229,000 after acquiring an additional 654 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 996 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the first quarter worth $208,000. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the first quarter valued at $411,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 17.8% in the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 26,922 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,687,000 after purchasing an additional 4,067 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

About Albemarle

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.