Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-six analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $190.0435.

ALB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $236.00 to $224.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Vertical Research raised Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $224.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on Albemarle from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Albemarle from $160.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Albemarle from $205.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 7th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Primecap Management Co. CA acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the second quarter worth about $358,101,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 57.7% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,241,106 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $175,542,000 after purchasing an additional 453,881 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Albemarle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $165,271,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in Albemarle by 78.5% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 730,745 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $131,191,000 after buying an additional 321,400 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in Albemarle during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $131,049,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Albemarle Trading Up 5.1%

NYSE ALB opened at $115.10 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $125.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $154.83. Albemarle has a 12 month low of $79.30 and a 12 month high of $221.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 426.33, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.33.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.55. The company had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. Albemarle had a net margin of 3.09% and a return on equity of 10.96%. Albemarle’s revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.11 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Albemarle will post 11.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This is a positive change from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 607.41%.

About Albemarle

Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) is a global specialty chemicals company that develops, manufactures and markets products used in energy storage, transportation, electronics, construction, agriculture, pharmaceuticals and other industrial applications. The company operates through three principal businesses: Energy Storage, Specialties and Ketjen.

Albemarle is one of the major producers of lithium and lithium compounds, including lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide, which are used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics and stationary energy storage systems.