Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) shares gapped up prior to trading on Monday after Argus raised their price target on the stock from $120.00 to $140.00. The stock had previously closed at $115.14, but opened at $120.01. Argus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Albemarle shares last traded at $124.0070, with a volume of 2,473,009 shares trading hands.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on ALB. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Albemarle from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Albemarle from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Albemarle from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.21.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its stake in 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. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 9,028 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $650,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its stake in Albemarle by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 6,475 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $466,000 after purchasing an additional 623 shares during the period. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC grew its position in Albemarle by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC now owns 127,093 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $9,153,000 after purchasing an additional 1,453 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blume Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Albemarle by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Blume Capital Management Inc. now owns 22,265 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,604,000 after purchasing an additional 1,143 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Albemarle Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $14.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.37 and a beta of 1.70. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $90.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $76.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 1.47.

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

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently -101.89%.

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.