Robert W. Baird Has Lowered Expectations for Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Stock Price

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its target price reduced by research analysts at Robert W. Baird from $77.00 to $60.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 4.68% from the company’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $86.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $150.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Albemarle from $80.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered shares of Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $97.10.

Albemarle Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE ALB opened at $57.32 on Tuesday. Albemarle has a one year low of $49.43 and a one year high of $137.50. The firm has a market cap of $6.74 billion, a PE ratio of -5.12 and a beta of 1.59. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $72.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $88.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.95.

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 the consensus estimate of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.72% and a negative net margin of 21.93%. Analysts expect that Albemarle will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Albemarle by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,594,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,256,294,000 after purchasing an additional 359,014 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,795,891 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $240,044,000 after purchasing an additional 53,985 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in Albemarle by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,990,762 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $171,365,000 after buying an additional 25,207 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its stake in Albemarle by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,432,153 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $123,280,000 after buying an additional 8,243 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,290,797 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $111,112,000 after acquiring an additional 139,600 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

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.