Scotiabank Lowers Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Price Target to $65.00

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its price objective lowered by investment analysts at Scotiabank from $75.00 to $65.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “sector perform” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Scotiabank’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 12.36% from the stock’s previous close.

ALB has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $109.00 to $105.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com raised Albemarle to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday. Evercore ISI lowered Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on Albemarle from $102.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Albemarle from $80.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.43.

Albemarle Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE:ALB traded down $0.09 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $57.85. 807,755 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,744,459. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.81 billion, a PE ratio of -5.16 and a beta of 1.71. Albemarle has a 12-month low of $49.43 and a 12-month high of $137.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.95. The business has a 50-day moving average of $66.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $83.86.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.18) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.62) by $0.44. Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.72% and a negative net margin of 21.93%. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.18 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.26 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Albemarle will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albemarle

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ALB. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 340.6% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 304 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 606.5% in the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 325 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. First Community Trust NA increased its holdings in Albemarle by 55.0% in the 4th quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in Albemarle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Albemarle during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.