Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Given New $170.00 Price Target at Oppenheimer

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its price objective reduced by Oppenheimer from $171.00 to $170.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

ALB has been the subject of several other research reports. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $135.00 to $85.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Albemarle from $190.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Berenberg Bank cut Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $160.00 to $83.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Hsbc Global Res raised Albemarle to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Albemarle from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.58.

Albemarle Trading Up 9.6 %

ALB opened at $110.49 on Friday. Albemarle has a 1-year low of $71.97 and a 1-year high of $153.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.99 billion, a PE ratio of -6.60 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a current ratio of 2.44, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $93.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $100.24.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is presently -9.67%.

Institutional Trading of Albemarle

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ALB. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 3.7% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,832 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $268,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC lifted its position in Albemarle by 45.0% in the 1st quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 332 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC boosted its stake in Albemarle by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 2,655 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $350,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Foster Group Inc. increased its holdings in Albemarle by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 3,047 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,186 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $551,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.