Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) shares down 1.2% on analyst downgrade

Albemarle Co. shares. (NYSE:ALB – Get Free Report ) traded up 1.2% on Friday after Piper Sandler cut their price target on the stock from $95.00 to $90.00. Piper Sandler currently has an underweight rating on the stock. Albemarle traded as high as $80.10 and last traded at $80.88. During trading, 417,493 shares were traded, down 86% from the session’s average volume of 3,078,234 shares. Shares previously closed at $81.83.

Other research analysts have recently issued research reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Albemarle from $128.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. KeyCorp cut their price target on Albemarle from $151.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Albemarle from $128.00 to $103.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird lowered Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $102.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Monday, 5 August. Finally, Baird RW lowered Albemarle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. The company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $128.11, according to MarketBeat.com.

Read our latest report on ALB

Indoor activity

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

Institutional inputs and outputs

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 580 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Albemarle by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,407 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $348,000 after buying an additional 111 shares. shares in the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC raised its position in Albemarle by 58.6% during the 4th quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 4,059 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $586,000 after acquiring an additional 1,499 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Albemarle in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $363,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in Albemarle by 27.2% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 25,176 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,637,000 after acquired an additional 5,376 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s shares.

Albemarle stock performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.91, and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $97.72 and a two hundred day simple moving average of $114.16. The company has a market cap of $9.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.57.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB – Get Your Free Report ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.49). The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 6.72% and a positive return on equity of 6.38%. Albemarle’s revenue for the quarter was down 39.7% compared to the same quarter last year. In the same quarter last year, the company earned $7.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. 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. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a dividend of $1.62 on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13. This is an increase from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.91%.

Albemarle Company Profile

(Get a 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 recycling services for by-products containing lithium.

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