Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Hits New 52-Week Low – Here’s Why

Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) shares hit a new 52-week low on Thursday . The company traded as low as $66.15 and last traded at $67.42, with a volume of 856554 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $72.25.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ALB shares. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Albemarle from $103.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Albemarle from $150.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Clarkson Capital assumed coverage on Albemarle in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $112.00 target price on the stock. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of Albemarle from $127.00 to $122.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.30.

Albemarle Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $7.82 billion, a PE ratio of -5.96 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $90.52.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.72% and a negative net margin of 21.93%. On average, research analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently -14.46%.

Institutional Trading of Albemarle

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ALB. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in Albemarle by 26.8% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 99,375 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $9,413,000 after acquiring an additional 20,988 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Albemarle by 67.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 658,145 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $62,333,000 after buying an additional 264,756 shares during the period. Glenmede Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in Albemarle by 59.1% in the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 3,371 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $319,000 after buying an additional 1,252 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $200,000. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 5,099 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $483,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

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.