Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Mizuho Analyst Says

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its price target hoisted by Mizuho from $92.00 to $110.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Mizuho’s target price would suggest a potential downside of 5.44% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on ALB. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Albemarle from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen raised Albemarle from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 16th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Albemarle from $87.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Albemarle from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.38.

Albemarle Stock Up 5.4%

Shares of ALB traded up $6.01 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $116.33. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,171,107 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,572,425. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company’s 50-day moving average is $89.57 and its 200-day moving average is $75.37. Albemarle has a 52-week low of $49.43 and a 52-week high of $119.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.49 and a beta of 1.70.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.19) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.92) by $0.73. Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.87% and a negative net margin of 18.61%.The company had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($1.55) earnings per share. Albemarle’s revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Albemarle will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albemarle

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Albemarle by 3.6% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 184,426 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $13,282,000 after buying an additional 6,487 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. grew its stake in Albemarle by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 5,136 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $370,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. Ping Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Albemarle by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. Ping Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,300 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $526,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 25.7% in the first quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,136 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $370,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 13.1% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 2,896 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $209,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

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.