Piper Sandler Has Lowered Expectations for Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Stock Price

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its price objective trimmed by Piper Sandler from $90.00 to $85.00 in a research report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an underweight rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on Albemarle from $171.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Albemarle from $150.00 to $140.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Clarkson Capital assumed coverage on Albemarle in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI lowered Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Albemarle from $73.00 to $68.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.68.

Albemarle Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of ALB opened at $82.51 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.04 and a beta of 1.59. Albemarle has a 1 year low of $71.97 and a 1 year high of $143.19. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $87.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Albemarle will post 0.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Albemarle

In other news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.12, for a total transaction of $255,328.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 73,747 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,457,296.64. This represents a 3.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albemarle

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in Albemarle by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 39,657 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,414,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,469,000. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Taylor Hoffman Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,208,000. Finally, Elequin Capital LP bought a new stake in Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at about $226,000. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

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.