Scotiabank Weighs in on Albemarle Co.’s FY2024 Earnings (NYSE:ALB)

Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) – Equities research analysts at Scotiabank lowered their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for Albemarle in a research note issued to investors on Monday, May 6th. Scotiabank analyst B. Isaacson now forecasts that the specialty chemicals company will post earnings of $2.39 per share for the year, down from their previous estimate of $2.45. Scotiabank currently has a “Sector Outperform” rating and a $150.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Albemarle’s current full-year earnings is $2.86 per share.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on ALB. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Albemarle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Vertical Research downgraded shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, March 8th. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $178.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Loop Capital decreased their price target on Albemarle from $168.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Albemarle from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.05.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $131.62 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.84. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $123.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $125.90. Albemarle has a fifty-two week low of $106.69 and a fifty-two week high of $247.44. The company has a market capitalization of $15.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.65.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. Albemarle had a net margin of 4.02% and a return on equity of 14.53%. The business’s revenue was down 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $10.32 earnings per share.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assetmark Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. WFA Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in Albemarle in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. USCF Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. USCF Advisers LLC now owns 200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Tyler Stone Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle in the third quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is 58.18%.

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.