Albemarle Co. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.41 (NYSE:ALB)

Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 27th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of 0.405 per share by the specialty chemicals company on Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th.

Albemarle has increased its dividend payment by an average of 1.1% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 30 consecutive years. Albemarle has a payout ratio of 76.8% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings decline. Research analysts expect Albemarle to earn $1.91 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.62 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 84.8%.

Albemarle Trading Down 4.8 %

ALB opened at $72.70 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.95. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $83.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $91.74. Albemarle has a one year low of $67.23 and a one year high of $137.50. The stock has a market cap of $8.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.49 and a beta of 1.70.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.72% and a negative net margin of 21.93%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Albemarle will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on ALB. Clarkson Capital initiated coverage on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $112.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $133.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Albemarle from $150.00 to $140.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. KeyCorp cut their price target on Albemarle from $127.00 to $122.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Albemarle from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.05.

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.