Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.49 EPS

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) announced its earnings results on Wednesday. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.60) by ($0.49), Zacks reports. Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 1.67% and a negative net margin of 28.80%.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALB traded up $0.87 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $76.57. The company had a trading volume of 3,378,891 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,373,626. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $90.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.59. Albemarle has a one year low of $71.97 and a one year high of $143.19. The firm has a market cap of $9.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.57, a PEG ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.59.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ALB shares. Clarkson Capital started coverage on Albemarle in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Albemarle from $108.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. KeyCorp lowered their target price on Albemarle from $132.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $79.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of Albemarle from $171.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Albemarle presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.95.

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 on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.12, for a total transaction of $255,328.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 73,747 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,457,296.64. The trade was a 3.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

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.