Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.05 EPS

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.05, FiscalAI reports. The business had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. Albemarle had a net margin of 3.09% and a return on equity of 10.96%.

Albemarle Stock Performance

ALB traded up $5.31 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $95.50. 6,047,852 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,466,557. The stock has a market cap of $11.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 353.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.34. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $109.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $148.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.35. Albemarle has a 12 month low of $89.10 and a 12 month high of $221.00.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 4th. Investors of record on Friday, December 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 18th. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 607.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on ALB. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Albemarle from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Friday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Albemarle in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $225.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated a “reduce” rating and issued a $161.00 target price on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $179.41.

About Albemarle

Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB) is a global specialty chemicals company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company develops, manufactures, and markets engineered chemicals used in energy storage, transportation, refining, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, consumer products, and other industrial applications.

Albemarle is one of the world’s major producers of lithium and supplies lithium compounds, including lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide, for use in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics, and grid energy-storage systems.