Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Price Target Lowered to $86.00 at UBS Group

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its price target cut by UBS Group from $99.00 to $86.00 in a research note published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on ALB. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Albemarle from $103.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho lowered their target price on Albemarle from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Albemarle from $109.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Clarkson Capital assumed coverage on Albemarle in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $112.00 target price on the stock. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price target on Albemarle from $132.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.38.

Albemarle Stock Performance

NYSE:ALB opened at $81.20 on Thursday. Albemarle has a twelve month low of $71.97 and a twelve month high of $143.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 2.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market cap of $9.54 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.85, a PEG ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.59. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $89.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $92.31.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its 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 positive return on equity of 1.67% and a negative net margin of 28.80%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Albemarle will post -1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Albemarle

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.12, for a total value of $255,328.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 73,747 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,457,296.64. This represents a 3.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Albemarle during the fourth quarter worth approximately $85,570,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its position in Albemarle by 9,108.7% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 574,805 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $54,440,000 after buying an additional 568,563 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,405,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Albemarle by 2.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in Albemarle by 36.7% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

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.