Mizuho Boosts Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Price Target to $128.00

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its price target hoisted by Mizuho from $112.00 to $128.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Mizuho’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 7.56% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on ALB. KeyCorp cut their target price on Albemarle from $178.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Albemarle in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Vertical Research downgraded Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, March 8th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $191.00 to $188.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $137.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $175.85.

Albemarle Price Performance

ALB stock opened at $119.00 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $13.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.92, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.65. Albemarle has a fifty-two week low of $106.69 and a fifty-two week high of $247.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $122.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $126.88.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.27). Albemarle had a net margin of 16.36% and a return on equity of 26.62%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $10.32 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 47.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Albemarle will post 2.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Albemarle

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. Assetmark Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle in the third quarter valued at $25,000. WFA Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in Albemarle during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. USCF Advisers LLC raised its position in Albemarle by 100.0% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 2,942.9% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 213 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.