Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $85.00 to $64.00. The stock had previously closed at $57.39, but opened at $56.00. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Albemarle shares last traded at $55.95, with a volume of 207,804 shares changing hands.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Evercore ISI cut Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of Albemarle from $122.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Albemarle from $80.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Albemarle from $73.00 to $68.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $96.05.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albemarle

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,594,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,256,294,000 after acquiring an additional 359,014 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,795,891 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $240,044,000 after purchasing an additional 53,985 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in Albemarle by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,990,762 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $171,365,000 after purchasing an additional 25,207 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in Albemarle by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,432,153 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $123,280,000 after acquiring an additional 8,243 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Albemarle by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,290,797 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $111,112,000 after buying an additional 139,600 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Albemarle Trading Down 2.6 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $6.19 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.70 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $71.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $87.77.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative net margin of 21.93% and a negative return on equity of 1.72%. On average, analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -14.46%.

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.