Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Given New $230.00 Price Target at UBS Group

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its target price raised by equities researchers at UBS Group from $220.00 to $230.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. UBS Group’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 33.55% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Stephens reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Friday, December 19th. HSBC upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 19th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $147.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.24.

Albemarle Trading Down 2.9%

NYSE:ALB traded down $5.22 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $172.22. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,536,423 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,704,119. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -29.95, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $170.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $140.27. Albemarle has a 1 year low of $50.85 and a 1 year high of $206.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 2.23.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.53) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.40) by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 0.41% and a negative net margin of 10.74%.Albemarle’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($1.09) EPS. Research analysts expect that Albemarle will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 11,783 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.81, for a total transaction of $2,012,654.23. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 134,628 shares in the company, valued at $22,995,808.68. The trade was a 8.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,468 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $349,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC now owns 5,769 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $816,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,592 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $508,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 782 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $111,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 2,423 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $343,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

About Albemarle

Albemarle Corporation is a leading global specialty chemicals company primarily engaged in the production and distribution of lithium, bromine, and catalysts. Its lithium segment supplies key components used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics, and grid storage systems. The company’s bromine specialty products serve a wide range of industries, including oil and gas drilling fluids, fire safety solutions, and water treatment. In its catalysts division, Albemarle provides products for petroleum refining, chemical processing and emissions control.

Founded in 1994 as a spin-off from Ethyl Corporation, Albemarle has grown through strategic acquisitions and capacity expansions to become one of the world’s foremost chemical producers.