Robert W. Baird Lowers Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) to Neutral

Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a report issued on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $85.00 price objective on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $102.00.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Albemarle from $188.00 to $178.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $128.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Albemarle from $135.00 to $126.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $124.00 to $109.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Albemarle to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $128.11.

Albemarle Price Performance

ALB stock opened at $81.83 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $98.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $114.43. The firm has a market cap of $9.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Albemarle has a 12 month low of $79.00 and a 12 month high of $203.62.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.49). The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 6.72% and a positive return on equity of 6.38%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $7.33 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Albemarle will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This is an increase from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.98%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently 58.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total transaction of $194,950.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,743 shares in the company, valued at $626,882.31. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total value of $114,251.79. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $921,875.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total transaction of $194,950.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,743 shares in the company, valued at $626,882.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.38% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ALB. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in Albemarle by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 32,252 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,660,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 23.2% in the fourth quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,078 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $445,000 after acquiring an additional 580 shares in the last quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 4,322 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $624,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 60.4% during the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 60,931 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $9,098,000 after acquiring an additional 22,941 shares during the period. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new position in Albemarle in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.