Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) PT Lowered to $150.00 at Scotiabank

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its price target reduced by Scotiabank from $160.00 to $150.00 in a research note published on Monday, Benzinga reports. Scotiabank currently has a sector outperform rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Scotiabank also issued estimates for Albemarle’s FY2024 earnings at $2.39 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $9.48 EPS.

ALB has been the subject of several other reports. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $178.00 to $159.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Albemarle from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Albemarle from a buy rating to a hold rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $155.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Albemarle from a neutral rating to a buy rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $137.00 to $156.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $112.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. 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, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $172.05.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB stock opened at $130.40 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $15.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.42, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.65. Albemarle has a 52-week low of $106.69 and a 52-week high of $247.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company’s 50 day moving average is $123.47 and its 200 day moving average is $125.93.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Albemarle had a net margin of 4.02% and a return on equity of 14.53%. Albemarle’s revenue was down 47.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $10.32 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Albemarle will post 2.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is 58.18%.

Institutional Trading of Albemarle

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kingfisher Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 0.6% during the third quarter. Kingfisher Capital LLC now owns 14,117 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,401,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 14.1% during the third quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 688 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Patron Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 5.8% during the third quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 1,541 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $262,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its stake in Albemarle by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 20,648 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,720,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Regatta Capital Group LLC grew its stake in Albemarle by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Regatta Capital Group LLC now owns 2,371 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $343,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. 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.