In a report released on Thursday, the stock research analysts working for StockNews.com began providing coverage for shares of Albemarle (NYSE: ALB). When it came to the specialty chemicals company’s stock, the organization recommended to its customers that they keep their “hold” position.
Albemarle (NYSE: ALB) disseminated the findings of its most recent quarterly financial report on Thursday, February 16, making the announcement.
The producer of specialty chemicals reported a quarterly earnings per share figure of $8.62, which was $0.16 more than the average estimate of $8.46 for the period.
It was anticipated that the company would bring in $2.60 billion in revenue for the quarter, but the actual amount that was brought in was significantly higher at $2.62 billion.
Albemarle experienced a return on equity of 37.63 percent, and the net margin for the company was 36.75 percent.
The increase in the company’s quarterly sales was 193.1% when measured against the growth in the same quarter of the previous year.
Profits per share for the company totaled $1.01 and were generated in the prior year’s comparable quarter.
Equity analysts forecast that Albemarle will bring in a net income of 30.2 cents per share for the current financial year.
When trading started on Thursday, the price of an individual share of ALB was $214.40.
The quick ratio is 1.13, the current ratio is 1.89, and the debt-to-equity ratio is 0.39.
All of these numbers are relative to the liquidity of the company.
These numbers should be interpreted in the context of the company’s liquidity.
The moving averages for the company over the past 50 days are currently sitting at $254.69, while the moving averages over the past 200 days are currently sitting at $263.66, respectively. Over the previous year, the price of Albemarle ranged from its all-time low of $185.15 to its all-time high of $334.55.
The company has a market capitalization of $25.13 billion, the price-to-earnings ratio is 9.40, the price-to-earnings-growth ratio is 0.47, the beta value is 1.57, and the price-to-earnings-growth ratio is 0.47.
Other research investigations have focused their attention on ALB for several different reasons.
The “perform” rating that Scotiabank had previously given to Albemarle’s shares was reaffirmed in a research note dated January 25 and published by the bank.
In a research report on Friday, February 17, Oppenheimer raised their “outperform” rating on Albemarle and raised their price objective on the stock from $497.00 to $498.00.
Both of these changes were made to the company’s stock. Vertical Research changed its rating for Albemarle’s stock on January 4 from “hold” to “buy” and set a price objective of $275.00 for the company’s common shares in a research note distributed that day.
The Royal Bank of Canada raised the price objective for Albemarle shares on January 25 in a research report that was made public.
The new price objective is $362.00, up from $340.00 previously.
Before, the price objective was set at $340. UBS Group downgraded Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target from $297.00 to $250.00 in a research report published on Wednesday, January 11.
Ten analysts have suggested that investors buy the stock, nine suggested that investors keep their current position, and two suggested that investors sell the stock.
According to information from Bloomberg.com, the company is currently rated as having a majority opinion of “Hold,” and the average price objective is $303.00.
This information was derived from ratings provided by analysts.
Additional information regarding Albemarle includes a transaction that took place on March 1 and involved CFO Scott Tozier selling 417 shares of the company’s stock.
This transaction took place.
The total amount paid for the shares was $106,539.33, which works out to a price of $255.49 per share when divided among all the shares.
After the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now has direct ownership of a total of 75,203 shares of the company.
Based on the current market price, these shares are estimated to be worth approximately $19,213,614.47. You will be able to acquire additional information regarding the transaction if you click on the link that has been provided for you.
This link will take you to an official Securities and Exchange Commission document.
Business insiders have sold 7,836 shares of company stock for a total price of $1,917,699 over the past three months.
Business insiders on the total number of shares in the company to 0.25 percent.
Purchases and sales of the company’s stock by institutional investors and hedge funds were among the most recent transactions involving the stock.
B. Riley Financial Advisers INC increased the percentage of Albemarle shares held during the fourth quarter by 41.2% from the previous quarter.
B. Riley Financial Advisors INC now has 7,534 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, which is currently valued at $1,637,000 after purchasing an additional 2,198 shares during the most recent period.
The value of Mather Group LLC’s holdings in Albemarle increased by 1.1% over the final three months of 2018. Following the purchase of 47 additional shares during the most recent quarter, Mather Group LLC now holds 4,377 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, with a market value of $949,000.
The amount of Albemarle stock that Victory Capital Management INC owned at the end of the year went up by 11.3% thanks to the company’s quarterly stock purchases. Following the acquisition of an additional 4,951 shares during the relevant period, Victory Capital Management INC now holds 48,825 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, estimated at $10,588,000. Great Lakes Retirement INC expanded its holdings in Albemarle during the fourth quarter by investing approximately $347,000 to purchase additional company shares.
And finally, during the final three months of the year, Voya Investment Management LLC added 28.1% more Albemarle stock to its portfolio, increasing the percentage of the company’s stock that it owned. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns a total of 1,230,612 shares of the stock of the specialty chemicals company after purchasing an additional 269,994 shares during the most recent period.
The value of these shares on the market currently is $266,871,000.
Institutions own 82.24 percent of the stock, making up most of the ownership.