Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Price Target Cut to $114.00 by Analysts at Royal Bank of Canada

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its price objective reduced by Royal Bank of Canada from $133.00 to $114.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an overweight rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on ALB. Evercore ISI downgraded Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Clarkson Capital assumed coverage on Albemarle in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price objective for the company. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Albemarle from $132.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Albemarle from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $79.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $114.24.

Albemarle Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE:ALB opened at $76.57 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.44, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $90.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.48. The company has a market cap of $9.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.59. Albemarle has a twelve month low of $71.97 and a twelve month high of $143.19.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released 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 net margin of 28.80% and a positive return on equity of 1.67%. Analysts anticipate that Albemarle will post -1.55 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Albemarle

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 73,747 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,457,296.64. The trade was a 3.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ALB. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 1,400.0% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 270 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 235 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 606.5% during the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 325 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the period. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, First Community Trust NA raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 55.0% during the 4th quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.