Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Scotiabank

Scotiabank reiterated their sector perform rating on shares of Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) in a report issued on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. Scotiabank currently has a $135.00 price target on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, down from their previous price target of $150.00. Scotiabank also issued estimates for Albemarle’s FY2024 earnings at $1.87 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $7.14 EPS.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on ALB. Bank of America raised shares of Albemarle from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $137.00 to $156.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on Albemarle from $178.00 to $159.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $168.00 to $162.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Berenberg Bank upgraded Albemarle from a hold rating to a buy rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $130.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Albemarle from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $165.16.

Albemarle Stock Performance

NYSE:ALB opened at $122.97 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.45 billion, a PE ratio of 44.72, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a current ratio of 2.84, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Albemarle has a 1 year low of $106.69 and a 1 year high of $247.44. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $124.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $125.85.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. Albemarle had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 4.02%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 47.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $10.32 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Albemarle will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total transaction of $114,251.79. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $921,875.06. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Albemarle news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total value of $114,251.79. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $921,875.06. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total value of $194,950.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $626,882.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.38% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albemarle

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. WFA Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. USCF Advisers LLC boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC bought a new position in Albemarle during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Tyler Stone Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 2,942.9% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 213 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.