Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the twenty-two research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $115.74.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ALB. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Albemarle from $79.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Albemarle from $132.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Albemarle from $171.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Albemarle from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Albemarle from $108.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Albemarle

In other news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.12, for a total value of $255,328.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 73,747 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,457,296.64. The trade was a 3.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 3,833,984 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $363,117,000 after buying an additional 20,930 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 0.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,741,906 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $258,797,000 after acquiring an additional 14,874 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Albemarle by 10.2% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,568,602 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $149,833,000 after acquiring an additional 144,705 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 2.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,311,331 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $125,264,000 after purchasing an additional 29,721 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 11.9% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,198,730 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $114,503,000 after purchasing an additional 127,615 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Albemarle stock opened at $88.29 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $10.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.27 and a beta of 1.56. Albemarle has a 12 month low of $71.97 and a 12 month high of $151.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.44 and a quick ratio of 1.58. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $100.40 and its 200-day moving average is $94.87.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.83%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -9.67%.

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.