In the latest trading session, Albemarle (ALB) closed at $165.65, marking a -1.6% move from the previous day. The stock trailed the S&P 500, which registered a daily gain of 0.41%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 1.73%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.09%.
The stock of specialty chemicals company has fallen by 12.6% in the past month, lagging the Basic Materials sector's gain of 3.22% and the S&P 500's gain of 4.59%.
Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Albemarle in its upcoming release. In that report, analysts expect Albemarle to post earnings of $3.08 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 2700%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $1.48 billion, up 11.36% from the prior-year quarter.
Looking at the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $12.39 per share and revenue of $5.99 billion. These totals would mark changes of +1668.35% and +16.45%, respectively, from last year.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Albemarle. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the business and profitability.
Our research reveals that these estimate alterations are directly linked with the stock price performance in the near future. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 49.57% higher within the past month. Albemarle presently features a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Looking at valuation, Albemarle is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 13.59. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 16.55, so one might conclude that Albemarle is trading at a discount comparatively.
It is also worth noting that ALB currently has a PEG ratio of 0.85. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. As of the close of trade yesterday, the Chemical - Diversified industry held an average PEG ratio of 1.27.
The Chemical - Diversified industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 109, which puts it in the top 45% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Keep in mind to rely on Zacks.com to watch all these stock-impacting metrics, and more, in the succeeding trading sessions.
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Albemarle Corporation (ALB): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).