Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Issues Earnings Results

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

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALB traded up $0.87 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $76.57. The stock had a trading volume of 3,391,514 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 has a market cap of $9.00 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.43 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 moving average price is $90.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.59.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of the company’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 transaction of $255,328.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 73,747 shares in the company, valued at $7,457,296.64. This represents a 3.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.38% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp decreased their price target on Albemarle from $132.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Albemarle from $79.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Evercore ISI cut Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Albemarle from $108.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Truist Financial initiated coverage on Albemarle in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $96.00 price target for the company. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.20.

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.