Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB – Get Free Report)’s stock price fell 6.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $124.00 to $109.00. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Albemarle traded as low as $91.24 and last traded at $92.66. 2,349,545 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 23% from the average session volume of 3,063,663 shares. The stock had previously closed at $99.15.
A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on ALB. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Albemarle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Albemarle from $170.00 to $127.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup boosted their price target on Albemarle from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Albemarle from $188.00 to $178.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Albemarle from $122.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $152.95.
Insider Buying and Selling at Albemarle
In other Albemarle news, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total value of $194,950.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,743 shares in the company, valued at approximately $626,882.31. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total value of $114,251.79. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $921,875.06. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total value of $194,950.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,743 shares in the company, valued at approximately $626,882.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.38% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle
Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. MONECO Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Albemarle by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 4,131 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $597,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA lifted its stake in Albemarle by 430.7% during the 4th quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 43,119 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $6,230,000 after acquiring an additional 34,994 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC lifted its stake in Albemarle by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 5,063 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $731,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares in the last quarter. Commerce Bank increased its holdings in Albemarle by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 10,667 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,541,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in Albemarle by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 23,874 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,449,000 after purchasing an additional 756 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.
Albemarle Trading Down 8.8 %
The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $115.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $121.42. The company has a current ratio of 2.84, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a market cap of $10.63 billion, a PE ratio of 32.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.57.
Albemarle (NYSE:ALB – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.09). Albemarle had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 4.02%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $10.32 EPS. Albemarle’s revenue for the quarter was down 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post 2.07 EPS for the current year.
Albemarle Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently 58.18%.
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.