Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Price Target Raised to $403.00

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB – Get Rating) had its price target lifted by analysts at Loop Capital from $397.00 to $403.00 in a research report issued on Friday, The Fly reports. Loop Capital’s target price suggests a potential upside of 93.29% from the stock’s current price.

ALB has been the topic of several other research reports. Piper Jaffray Companies assumed coverage on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. Vertical Research upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $275.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 4th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Albemarle from $497.00 to $498.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Albemarle from $340.00 to $362.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 25th. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Wednesday, January 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $308.00.

Albemarle Stock Performance

NYSE:ALB opened at $208.49 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $254.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $262.37. The stock has a market cap of $24.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.14, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.57. Albemarle has a 1-year low of $185.15 and a 1-year high of $334.55.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 16th. The specialty chemicals company reported $8.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.46 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $2.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.60 billion. Albemarle had a net margin of 36.75% and a return on equity of 37.63%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 193.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.01 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Albemarle will post 30.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Scott Tozier sold 5,700 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction on Friday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.40, for a total value of $1,432,980.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 69,503 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,473,054.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 7,836 shares of company stock worth $1,917,699. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. bought a new position in Albemarle in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 51.2% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 130 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. Trustcore Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 49.0% during the 3rd quarter. Trustcore Financial Services LLC now owns 149 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 150 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.24% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Company Profile

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Albemarle Corp. engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of chemicals for consumer electronics, petroleum refining, utilities, packaging, construction, transportation, pharmaceuticals, crop production, food-safety, and custom chemistry services. It operates through the following business segments: Lithium, Bromine, Catalysts, and All Other.