Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.05 EPS

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.05, FiscalAI reports. Albemarle had a return on equity of 10.96% and a net margin of 3.09%. The company had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.52 billion.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ALB traded up $5.31 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $95.50. The stock had a trading volume of 6,047,852 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,466,557. The business’s fifty day moving average is $109.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $148.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The company has a market cap of $11.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 353.71, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.34. Albemarle has a twelve month low of $89.10 and a twelve month high of $221.00.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 4th. Investors of record on Friday, December 18th will be paid a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 18th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 607.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on ALB shares. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Argus reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $230.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Monday, October 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $109.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $160.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Albemarle from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $179.41.

About Albemarle

Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB) is a global specialty chemicals company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company develops, manufactures, and markets engineered chemicals used in energy storage, transportation, refining, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, consumer products, and other industrial applications.

Albemarle is one of the world’s major producers of lithium and supplies lithium compounds, including lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide, for use in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics, and grid energy-storage systems.