Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Hits New 1-Year Low – Here’s What Happened

Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $66.15 and last traded at $67.42, with a volume of 856554 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $72.25.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ALB shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $109.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $73.00 to $68.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $150.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Albemarle from $133.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price target on Albemarle from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Albemarle presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.30.

Albemarle Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $6.89 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.23 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company’s fifty day moving average is $77.46 and its 200 day moving average is $90.14.

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

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.77%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently -14.46%.

Institutional Trading of Albemarle

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,594,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,256,294,000 after buying an additional 359,014 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Albemarle by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,795,891 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $240,044,000 after purchasing an additional 53,985 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,990,762 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $171,365,000 after purchasing an additional 25,207 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its position in Albemarle by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,432,153 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $123,280,000 after buying an additional 8,243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Albemarle by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,290,797 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $111,112,000 after buying an additional 139,600 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.