Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on ALB. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Albemarle from $244.00 to $211.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Albemarle from $236.00 to $224.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their price target on Albemarle from $188.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. UBS Group increased their price target on Albemarle from $230.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Albemarle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.22.

Albemarle Trading Down 0.2%

ALB opened at $117.46 on Friday. Albemarle has a twelve month low of $64.95 and a twelve month high of $221.00. The company has a fifty day moving average of $142.86 and a 200-day moving average of $165.76. The stock has a market cap of $13.85 billion, a PE ratio of -34.45 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $1.71. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 5.00% and a positive return on equity of 5.22%. Albemarle’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.18) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Albemarle will post 12.79 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 16,393 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.72, for a total value of $3,011,721.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 87,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,078,990.68. This trade represents a 15.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albemarle

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its position in Albemarle by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,630,394 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $230,603,000 after acquiring an additional 207,770 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Albemarle by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,263,734 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $102,464,000 after purchasing an additional 22,856 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Albemarle by 57.7% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,241,106 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $175,542,000 after purchasing an additional 453,881 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter worth approximately $165,271,000. Finally, Phoenix Financial Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter worth approximately $130,415,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Albemarle

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.