Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Reaches New 52-Week High - Still a Buy?

Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $132.90 and last traded at $128.33, with a volume of 4013919 shares. The stock had previously closed at $129.99.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

• 3 Signals Pointing to a Turnaround for Albemarle

Several brokerages have weighed in on ALB. Rothschild & Co Redburn started coverage on Albemarle in a report on Friday, October 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $135.00 price objective for the company. Argus boosted their price target on Albemarle from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Albemarle from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 16th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $68.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $85.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $101.29.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on ALB

Albemarle Stock Performance

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The company has a market cap of $15.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.77 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 2.31. The company has a fifty day moving average of $100.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.21.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.19) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.92) by $0.73. The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.27 billion. Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.87% and a negative net margin of 18.61%.The business's quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned ($1.55) earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

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The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Albemarle's payout ratio is presently -101.89%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ALB. Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Albemarle during the 3rd quarter worth $1,657,000. Strategic Advocates LLC bought a new position in shares of Albemarle during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Opes Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 2.1% in the third quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,631 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $619,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the period. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new stake in Albemarle in the third quarter valued at approximately $5,482,000. Finally, Tweedy Browne Co LLC acquired a new stake in Albemarle during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $314,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% 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.

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