UBS Group Cuts Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Price Target to $64.00

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) had its price target cut by equities research analysts at UBS Group from $86.00 to $64.00 in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "neutral" rating on the specialty chemicals company's stock. UBS Group's target price would suggest a potential upside of 13.06% from the stock's current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on ALB. Citigroup lowered their price target on Albemarle from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $73.00 to $68.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their target price on Albemarle from $127.00 to $122.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $100.70.

Albemarle Trading Up 3.5 %

Albemarle stock traded up $1.90 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $56.61. The stock had a trading volume of 3,357,217 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,697,932. The firm has a market cap of $6.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.05 and a beta of 1.59. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $73.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $88.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.19. Albemarle has a twelve month low of $49.43 and a twelve month high of $137.50.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last announced 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 return on equity of 1.72% and a negative net margin of 21.93%. Equities analysts anticipate that Albemarle will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Epiq Partners LLC raised its holdings in Albemarle by 11.7% in the first quarter. Epiq Partners LLC now owns 25,933 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,868,000 after purchasing an additional 2,716 shares during the period. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 21.9% during the first quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,226 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $232,000 after acquiring an additional 580 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC increased its holdings in Albemarle by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 617,657 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $44,484,000 after purchasing an additional 21,120 shares in the last quarter. Leibman Financial Services Inc. raised its position in Albemarle by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. Leibman Financial Services Inc. now owns 42,634 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $3,070,000 after buying an additional 3,670 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 6.1% in the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 27,004 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,945,000 after purchasing an additional 1,552 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.