Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Upgraded at Truist Financial

Truist Financial upgraded shares of Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Truist Financial currently has $205.00 target price on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, up from their previous target price of $125.00.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on ALB. Berenberg Bank boosted their price objective on Albemarle from $75.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Bank of America raised their price target on Albemarle from $118.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Albemarle in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Albemarle from $132.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $100.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $152.48.

Albemarle Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $189.56 on Wednesday. Albemarle has a 12-month low of $49.43 and a 12-month high of $191.97. The company has a market cap of $22.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -119.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.27, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $143.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.00.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.19) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.92) by $0.73. The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.27 billion. Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 0.10% and a negative net margin of 0.43%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned ($1.55) earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Albemarle will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th were issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 12th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently -101.89%.

Institutional Trading of Albemarle

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ALB. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 782 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $111,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Albemarle by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,163 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $447,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Per Stirling Capital Management LLC. boosted its stake in Albemarle by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Per Stirling Capital Management LLC. now owns 3,332 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $270,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in Albemarle by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,402 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $198,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Albemarle by 18.2% during the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 677 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Company Profile

Albemarle Corporation is a leading global specialty chemicals company primarily engaged in the production and distribution of lithium, bromine, and catalysts. Its lithium segment supplies key components used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics, and grid storage systems. The company’s bromine specialty products serve a wide range of industries, including oil and gas drilling fluids, fire safety solutions, and water treatment. In its catalysts division, Albemarle provides products for petroleum refining, chemical processing and emissions control.

Founded in 1994 as a spin-off from Ethyl Corporation, Albemarle has grown through strategic acquisitions and capacity expansions to become one of the world’s foremost chemical producers.