Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Clarkson Capital

Clarkson Capital began coverage on shares of Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) in a research report report published on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $112.00 target price on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on ALB. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Albemarle from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Albemarle from $108.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Albemarle from $79.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price objective on Albemarle from $132.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $115.65.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $94.30 on Tuesday. Albemarle has a 12 month low of $71.97 and a 12 month high of $143.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 2.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a market cap of $11.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.58. The business’s 50 day moving average is $98.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $93.88.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -9.67%.

Insider Transactions at Albemarle

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.12, for a total value of $255,328.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 73,747 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,457,296.64. The trade was a 3.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.38% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Albemarle

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ALB. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Albemarle by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,832 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $268,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 50.4% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 394 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 48.9% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 414 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. First Community Trust NA increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 55.0% in the fourth quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc raised its position in Albemarle by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 42,529 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,031,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.