Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Price Target Cut to $79.00 by Analysts at Robert W. Baird

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its price target lowered by Robert W. Baird from $85.00 to $79.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. Robert W. Baird currently has a neutral rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Mizuho dropped their price target on Albemarle from $128.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Albemarle from $115.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Albemarle to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on Albemarle from $151.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Albemarle from $188.00 to $178.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $117.30.

Albemarle Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $93.51 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $10.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 13.81 and a beta of 1.54. Albemarle has a 12-month low of $71.97 and a 12-month high of $153.54. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $91.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $101.96.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.49). The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 6.72% and a positive return on equity of 6.38%. The firm’s revenue was down 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $7.33 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Albemarle will post 0.46 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Albemarle

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ALB. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 239.7% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 53,793 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,138,000 after acquiring an additional 37,958 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Albemarle by 22.5% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 190,526 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $25,100,000 after purchasing an additional 35,003 shares during the period. MBB Public Markets I LLC grew its holdings in Albemarle by 392.6% during the second quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC now owns 7,916 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $756,000 after purchasing an additional 6,309 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in Albemarle by 32.4% during the third quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 521,537 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $49,395,000 after purchasing an additional 127,549 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in Albemarle during the first quarter worth about $202,000. 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.