Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Receives $117.30 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty-two brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $113.58.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ALB. Mizuho dropped their target price on Albemarle from $128.00 to $103.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Baird R W cut Albemarle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Albemarle from $190.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Berenberg Bank lowered shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $160.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $100.84 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $11.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.02 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.67. Albemarle has a fifty-two week low of $71.97 and a fifty-two week high of $153.54. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $93.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.38.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is -9.67%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albemarle

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 108.1% in the third quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 53,129 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,032,000 after purchasing an additional 27,604 shares in the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. grew its stake in Albemarle by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 5,004 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $474,000 after buying an additional 441 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its holdings in Albemarle by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 3,833,984 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $363,117,000 after acquiring an additional 20,930 shares during the period. Cornerstone Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 100.0% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC now owns 400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Grandfield & Dodd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 13.1% in the third quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 228,202 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $21,613,000 after acquiring an additional 26,352 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is currently 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.