Albemarle Corporation’s (NYSE:ALB) “Outperform” Rating Reaffirmed at Robert W. Baird

Robert W. Baird restated their outperform rating on shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) in a research report released on Tuesday morning, The Fly reports. They currently have a $135.00 target price on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, up from their previous target price of $125.00. The analysts noted that the move was a valuation call.

ALB has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle Corporation from $100.00 to $72.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a buy rating and issued a $132.00 price objective on shares of Albemarle Corporation in a research report on Tuesday, April 18th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a buy rating and issued a $36.00 price objective on shares of Albemarle Corporation in a research report on Thursday, June 29th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Albemarle Corporation from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, June 12th. Finally, Aegis reissued a buy rating on shares of Albemarle Corporation in a research report on Friday, July 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. The stock currently has a consensus rating of Buy and an average price target of $104.80.

Albemarle Corporation (ALB) opened at 117.73 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $110.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $103.88. The stock has a market cap of $13.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.61 and a beta of 1.58. Albemarle Corporation has a 12-month low of $75.11 and a 12-month high of $119.00.

Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 3rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.10. Albemarle Corporation had a net margin of 17.02% and a return on equity of 11.97%. The firm had revenue of $722.06 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $678.74 million. On average, analysts forecast that Albemarle Corporation will post $4.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 14th. Albemarle Corporation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.22%.

In related news, CFO Scott Tozier sold 25,000 shares of Albemarle Corporation stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.13, for a total transaction of $2,753,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 57,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,333,135.78. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Karen G. Narwold sold 20,000 shares of Albemarle Corporation stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.16, for a total transaction of $2,163,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,120 shares in the company, valued at $4,880,179.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 105,000 shares of company stock worth $11,499,850. 0.74% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Albemarle Corporation by 6.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,287,799 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,298,083,000 after buying an additional 725,702 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in Albemarle Corporation by 2,805.3% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 8,310,717 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $877,947,000 after buying an additional 8,024,668 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Albemarle Corporation by 0.5% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,356,839 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $671,675,000 after buying an additional 30,662 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Albemarle Corporation by 14.0% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,705,825 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $602,763,000 after buying an additional 702,388 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in Albemarle Corporation by 3.9% in the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,269,067 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $239,703,000 after buying an additional 84,189 shares during the period. 86.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Albemarle Corporation Company Profile

Albemarle Corporation is a global developer, manufacturer and marketer of highly-engineered specialty chemicals. The Company operates through three segments: Lithium and Advanced Materials, Bromine Specialties and Refining Solutions. Lithium and Advanced Materials segment consist of two product categories: Lithium and Performance Catalyst Solutions.