Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) PT Raised to $157.00 at Royal Bank of Canada

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its price target hoisted by stock analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $138.00 to $157.00 in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target indicates a potential upside of 19.28% from the company’s previous close.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on ALB. Oppenheimer cut their price target on Albemarle from $191.00 to $188.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. Citigroup raised their price target on Albemarle from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Albemarle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Loop Capital cut their target price on Albemarle from $168.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Berenberg Bank raised Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $130.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.05.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of ALB opened at $131.62 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $15.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.86, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.65. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $123.51 and a 200-day moving average of $125.90. The company has a current ratio of 2.84, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Albemarle has a 52 week low of $106.69 and a 52 week high of $247.44.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. Albemarle had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 4.02%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 47.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $10.32 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Albemarle will post 2.86 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Assetmark Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle during the third quarter valued at $25,000. WFA Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle during the first quarter valued at $25,000. USCF Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. USCF Advisers LLC now owns 200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new stake in Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Tyler Stone Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Albemarle during the third quarter valued at $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

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.