Robert W. Baird Lowers Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Price Target to $79.00

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its target price lowered by Robert W. Baird from $85.00 to $79.00 in a research report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

ALB has been the topic of several other research reports. HSBC downgraded shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Albemarle to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Albemarle from $135.00 to $126.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Albemarle from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $188.00 to $178.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $117.30.

Albemarle Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of Albemarle stock opened at $93.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.67. The company has a fifty day moving average of $91.35 and a 200 day moving average of $101.59. The company has a market capitalization of $10.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.00, a P/E/G ratio of 13.81 and a beta of 1.54. Albemarle has a fifty-two week low of $71.97 and a fifty-two week high of $153.54.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.49). The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 6.38% and a negative net margin of 6.72%. The business’s revenue was down 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $7.33 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Albemarle will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albemarle

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its stake in Albemarle by 2.4% in the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 3,813,054 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $364,223,000 after purchasing an additional 87,970 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its stake in Albemarle by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 2,472,155 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $325,682,000 after buying an additional 116,284 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in Albemarle by 176.6% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 1,588,986 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $209,333,000 after buying an additional 3,662,117 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 10.2% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,568,602 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $149,833,000 after buying an additional 144,705 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Albemarle by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,311,331 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $125,264,000 after buying an additional 29,721 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.