Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Given New $105.00 Price Target at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its price target dropped by investment analysts at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft from $109.00 to $105.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft’s price objective points to a potential upside of 32.67% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on ALB. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $132.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Clarkson Capital started coverage on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $79.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $133.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $113.14.

Albemarle Trading Up 3.3 %

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $79.15 on Wednesday. Albemarle has a 12 month low of $71.97 and a 12 month high of $143.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 2.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.39. The firm has a market cap of $9.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.73, a PEG ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.59.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative net margin of 28.80% and a positive return on equity of 1.67%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Albemarle will post -1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.12, for a total value of $255,328.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 73,747 shares in the company, valued at $7,457,296.64. The trade was a 3.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Albemarle

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $85,570,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 9,108.7% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 574,805 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $54,440,000 after buying an additional 568,563 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,405,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,594,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,256,294,000 after buying an additional 359,014 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 36.7% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,192,527 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $102,653,000 after buying an additional 320,150 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.