Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Upgraded at Rothschild Redb

Rothschild Redb upgraded shares of Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Albemarle from $89.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 6th. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Albemarle from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Albemarle in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Argus increased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $90.00 to $120.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Albemarle has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $95.33.

Albemarle Stock Up 8.5%

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $105.65 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $85.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.54. Albemarle has a 12-month low of $49.43 and a 12-month high of $113.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.43 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.34 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.83) by $0.94. Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.87% and a negative net margin of 18.61%.The firm had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.04 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Albemarle has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Albemarle will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Albemarle

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 10,050.0% in the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 406 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 402 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 7,257.1% in the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 515 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 508 shares during the period. National Pension Service lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 74.5% in the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 452 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 36.8% in the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 413 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new stake in Albemarle in the first quarter worth about $36,000. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.