Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Sets New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday after Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft now has a $185.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $125.00. Albemarle traded as high as $169.62 and last traded at $169.2370, with a volume of 3418310 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $161.29.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $159.00 price target on shares of Albemarle in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $132.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Dbs Bank lifted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price target on shares of Albemarle from $135.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $134.96.

Institutional Trading of Albemarle

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ALB. Capital Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle during the fourth quarter worth $232,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC grew its position in Albemarle by 266.4% during the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 4,727 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $669,000 after purchasing an additional 3,437 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. grew its position in Albemarle by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 1,646 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $233,000 after purchasing an additional 823 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter valued at about $381,000. Finally, Regatta Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Regatta Capital Group LLC now owns 9,475 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,340,000 after buying an additional 763 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Trading Up 4.3%

The company has a current ratio of 2.27, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market cap of $20.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -111.12, a PEG ratio of 7.12 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $132.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $99.35.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.19) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.92) by $0.73. Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 0.10% and a negative net margin of 0.43%.The company had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.27 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned ($1.55) earnings per share. Albemarle’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th were paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 12th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently -101.89%.

Albemarle Company Profile

Albemarle Corporation is a leading global specialty chemicals company primarily engaged in the production and distribution of lithium, bromine, and catalysts. Its lithium segment supplies key components used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics, and grid storage systems. The company’s bromine specialty products serve a wide range of industries, including oil and gas drilling fluids, fire safety solutions, and water treatment. In its catalysts division, Albemarle provides products for petroleum refining, chemical processing and emissions control.

Founded in 1994 as a spin-off from Ethyl Corporation, Albemarle has grown through strategic acquisitions and capacity expansions to become one of the world’s foremost chemical producers.