Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Releases Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.09 EPS

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.09), Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. Albemarle had a net margin of 4.02% and a return on equity of 14.53%. Albemarle’s revenue for the quarter was down 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $10.32 earnings per share.

Albemarle Stock Up 2.2 %

NYSE:ALB traded up $2.80 on Friday, hitting $128.10. 2,600,059 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,691,240. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $123.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $126.54. The company has a current ratio of 2.84, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a market cap of $15.06 billion, a PE ratio of 46.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.65. Albemarle has a 1 year low of $106.69 and a 1 year high of $247.44.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is presently 58.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $178.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Mizuho increased their price target on Albemarle from $112.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup lifted their price target on Albemarle from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Loop Capital cut their price objective on Albemarle from $168.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Albemarle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $175.85.

About Albemarle

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.