Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Given New $105.00 Price Target at Mizuho

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its price target trimmed by Mizuho from $110.00 to $105.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on ALB. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $108.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $171.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Albemarle from $132.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Albemarle from $79.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Albemarle has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $115.84.

Albemarle Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of ALB stock opened at $90.01 on Tuesday. Albemarle has a fifty-two week low of $71.97 and a fifty-two week high of $143.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 2.44. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $99.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $94.12. The company has a market cap of $10.58 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.37 and a beta of 1.58.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -9.67%.

Insider Transactions at Albemarle

In related news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 73,747 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,457,296.64. This represents a 3.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Albemarle

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Albemarle by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 52,016 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,969,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 21.4% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 36,288 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,534,000 after buying an additional 6,388 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 18.4% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 56,498 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,397,000 after buying an additional 8,777 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in Albemarle by 182.5% in the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 36,384 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,475,000 after buying an additional 23,506 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Albemarle during the 2nd quarter valued at $392,000. 92.87% of the stock is currently 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.