Scotiabank Comments on Albemarle Co.’s FY2024 Earnings (NYSE:ALB)

Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) – Stock analysts at Scotiabank cut their FY2024 EPS estimates for shares of Albemarle in a research note issued to investors on Monday, May 6th. Scotiabank analyst B. Isaacson now forecasts that the specialty chemicals company will post earnings per share of $2.39 for the year, down from their prior forecast of $2.45. Scotiabank currently has a “Sector Outperform” rating and a $150.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Albemarle’s current full-year earnings is $2.86 per share.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. Albemarle had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 4.02%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $10.32 EPS.

ALB has been the topic of several other reports. KeyCorp dropped their target price on Albemarle from $178.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $130.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $112.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Albemarle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on Albemarle in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Albemarle has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.05.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB opened at $130.40 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.42, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.84 and a quick ratio of 1.91. Albemarle has a one year low of $106.69 and a one year high of $247.44. The business has a fifty day moving average of $123.47 and a 200 day moving average of $125.93.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Eagle Strategies LLC increased its position in Albemarle by 149.3% in the third quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 14,058 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,391,000 after purchasing an additional 8,420 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 283,876 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $48,270,000 after buying an additional 14,593 shares during the last quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 430.7% during the 4th quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 43,119 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $6,230,000 after buying an additional 34,994 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 80.3% in the 3rd quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,757 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,359,000 after acquiring an additional 8,799 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in Albemarle by 8.9% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 412,821 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $70,179,000 after acquiring an additional 33,662 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.18%.

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.