Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Raised to Hold at Barclays

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Barclays to a “hold” rating in a report released on Monday, Zacks reports.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut their target price on shares of Albemarle from $188.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Argus lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $230.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Albemarle from $236.00 to $224.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Albemarle from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price objective on Albemarle from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 10th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Albemarle has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.96.

Albemarle Stock Up 0.3%

ALB stock opened at $97.91 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 362.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Albemarle has a 12 month low of $88.01 and a 12 month high of $221.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $120.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $146.64.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.55. The company had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. Albemarle had a net margin of 3.09% and a return on equity of 10.96%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.11 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Albemarle will post 11.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nvwm LLC increased its holdings in Albemarle by 105,300.0% in the third quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 5,270 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $557,000 after purchasing an additional 5,265 shares in the last quarter. Ashurst Perkins Coie Trust Co acquired a new position in Albemarle in the third quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 53.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,383 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 826 shares in the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 30.8% during the 3rd quarter. Triumph Capital Management now owns 3,532 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $374,000 after buying an additional 831 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Morris Harris LLC bought a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $391,000. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Albemarle

Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB) is a global specialty chemicals company that develops, manufactures and markets materials used in energy storage, transportation, consumer products and industrial applications. The company is best known for its lithium business, which supplies lithium compounds used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics and energy-storage systems.

Albemarle also produces bromine-based specialty chemicals used in areas such as fire safety, water treatment, pharmaceutical manufacturing and other industrial processes.