Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) shares gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $85.00 to $64.00. The stock had previously closed at $57.39, but opened at $56.00. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Albemarle shares last traded at $55.95, with a volume of 207,804 shares.

ALB has been the topic of several other research reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $77.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Albemarle from $150.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Albemarle from $109.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $122.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $96.05.

Institutional Trading of Albemarle

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in Albemarle by 340.6% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 304 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 606.5% during the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 325 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 50.4% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 394 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. First Community Trust NA raised its position in Albemarle by 55.0% in the 4th quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new position in Albemarle during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Albemarle Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $88.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.57 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.98 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.95.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 Co. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -14.46%.

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.