Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Sets New 12-Month Low After Analyst Downgrade

Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $80.00 to $60.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Albemarle traded as low as $49.43 and last traded at $50.46, with a volume of 7910049 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $58.10.

ALB has been the topic of a number of other reports. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Albemarle from $103.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Clarkson Capital assumed coverage on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $112.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Citigroup cut their price objective 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. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their target price on Albemarle from $127.00 to $122.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Two research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.70.

Institutional Trading of Albemarle

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Albemarle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $85,570,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter valued at $39,405,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 359,014 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 36.7% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,192,527 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $102,653,000 after buying an additional 320,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 6,393.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 152,394 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $10,975,000 after acquiring an additional 150,047 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Trading Down 9.7 %

The company has a market cap of $6.43 billion, a PE ratio of -4.88 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $73.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $88.78.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative net margin of 21.93% and a negative return on equity of 1.72%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.97%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently -14.46%.

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.