Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

by · The Markets Daily

Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB – Get Free Report) shares gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $85.00 to $64.00. The stock had previously closed at $57.39, but opened at $56.00. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Albemarle shares last traded at $55.95, with a volume of 207,804 shares.

ALB has been the topic of several other research reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $77.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Albemarle from $150.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Albemarle from $109.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $122.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Two research 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $96.05.

Read Our Latest Analysis on ALB

Institutional Trading of Albemarle

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in Albemarle by 340.6% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 304 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 606.5% during the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 325 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 50.4% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 394 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. First Community Trust NA raised its position in Albemarle by 55.0% in the 4th quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new position in Albemarle during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Albemarle Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $88.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.57 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.98 and a beta of 1.59. 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 – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -14.46%.

About Albemarle

(Get Free Report)

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.

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