Albemarle (ALB) Stock Slides as Market Rises: Facts to Know Before You Trade

In the latest trading session, Albemarle (ALB) closed at $117.52, marking a -3.76% move from the previous day. The stock's change was less than the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.86%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.98%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.96%.

The stock of specialty chemicals company has fallen by 6.41% in the past month, lagging the Basic Materials sector's loss of 0.74% and the S&P 500's loss of 1.96%.

Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Albemarle in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company is expected to report EPS of $2.55, up 1442.11% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $1.52 billion, up 16.07% from the year-ago period.

ALB's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $11.39 per share and revenue of $6.1 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +1541.77% and +18.69%, respectively.

Additionally, investors should keep an eye on any recent revisions to analyst forecasts for Albemarle. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the business health and profitability.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 4.37% lower. Albemarle is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Investors should also note Albemarle's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 10.72. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 17, which means Albemarle is trading at a discount to the group.

We can also see that ALB currently has a PEG ratio of 0.71. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. The Chemical - Diversified was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.19 at yesterday's closing price.

The Chemical - Diversified industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 95, placing it within the top 39% of over 250 industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the vigor of our specific industry groups by computing the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks incorporated in the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Ensure to harness Zacks.com to stay updated with all these stock-shifting metrics, among others, in the next trading sessions.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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