Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Shares Gap Up to $116.88

Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $116.88, but opened at $122.50. Albemarle shares last traded at $124.30, with a volume of 720,478 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Albemarle from $115.00 to $112.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $168.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $130.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $137.00 to $156.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $175.05.

Albemarle Trading Down 4.3 %

The stock has a market cap of $14.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.62. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $122.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $127.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.86. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. Albemarle had a net margin of 16.36% and a return on equity of 26.62%. Albemarle’s quarterly revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $8.62 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.99%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Lineweaver Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 21.8% in the first quarter. Lineweaver Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,776 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $498,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Albemarle during the 1st quarter worth $346,000. Norden Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Albemarle in the first quarter worth $262,000. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 14.2% during the first quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 251,338 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $33,111,000 after purchasing an additional 31,293 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA bought a new position in Albemarle in the 1st quarter valued at about $260,000. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Company Profile

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.