Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Raised to “Buy” at Bank of America

Bank of America upgraded shares of Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $156.00 price objective on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $137.00.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on ALB. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $112.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $137.00 to $125.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Vertical Research lowered Albemarle from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $145.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Albemarle from a buy rating to a hold rating and reduced their target price for the company from $155.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their price target on Albemarle from $168.00 to $162.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $175.05.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB stock opened at $122.58 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $122.93 and a 200 day moving average of $131.04. Albemarle has a 1 year low of $106.69 and a 1 year high of $247.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.62.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.86. Albemarle had a return on equity of 26.62% and a net margin of 16.36%. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $8.62 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Albemarle will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.99%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ALB. Assetmark Inc. acquired a new position in Albemarle in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. USCF Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 100.0% in the 4th 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. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 51.2% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 130 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.