Wall street analysts have pegged Albemarle Corp (ALB) with a target price of 124.52 for the year. Shares have moved 9.36% for the week, 1.57% for the month, 4.16% for the quarter and 4.16% for the past year.
Regardless of target price, it’s important to compare how a firm has performed and will likely perform against its peers. Relative Strength is a measure of price growth that indicates how a stock is performing relative to the rest of the market. It is a numerical measurement expressed as a percentage. Compared to peers in the Specialty Chemicals industry and Basic Materials sector, we can see that Albemarle Corp performed better than 86% of their peers over the past month, better than 17% over the past two weeks, 85% over the past quarter and better than 11% over the past year.
Investors may be diving into the latest company earnings reports trying to scope out some quality stocks to add to the portfolio. Nobody knows for sure which way overall market momentum will sway as we near the close of the calendar year. Investors may be getting ready to do a portfolio review to see which stocks are worthy to hold, and which ones have underperformed a may need to be unloaded. Regularly monitoring stock investments may keep the investor ready for any big market changes that may occur.
F Score & Beneish
Albemarle Corp (ALB) has been given an F-Score of 6.00. The score was developed by Joseph Piotroski, a professor of accounting at the University of Chicago, after whom it is named.The F-Score is a financial score that is used to screen for high quality stocks, in terms of their fundamental value, based on nine financial parameters. The parameters are tied mainly to profitability, leverage, liquidity, and overall operating efficiency of the company. As the F-score measures the financial health of a firm, stocks with a high F-score of 7 to 9 are considered to be safer investments than those with lower scores. Stocks with scores under 5 would be considered avoidable using this method.
Albemarle Corp has a Beneish M-Score of -2.68. The M-Score is a sophisticated calculation used to determine the probability of a firm manipulating their financial reports. In short, a number greater than -1.78 is bad, smaller than -1.78 is good.
Looking at stock market performance over the last few months, new investors may be worried that they might have missed out on some fantastic opportunities. With so much information and data available, they may not even know where to begin when getting into the stock investing arena. Everybody has to start somewhere, and becoming knowledgeable about the basics may help provide the perfect springboard from which to launch. Starting with the basics may help the investor understand the bigger picture which can then be filtered down into specifics. Because there is no magic formula to achieving success in the stock market, investors may have to explore many different strategies before choosing one to run with.
In looking at some key variables, we note that Albemarle Corp (ALB) has a price to earnings ratio of 31.72 and current year earnings per share of 3.14. In terms of ratios, the stock has 9.29 return on equity, 4.56 return on assets and a current ratio of 1.83. ROE is a profitability measure of investments. With ROE, higher values are typically sought after. A high ROE points to the ability of a company to effectively generate income on new investment. Many investors will monitor ROE values in conjunction with other ratios in order to obtain a broader sense of a company’s competency. Investors often compare ROE of firms that operate in the same industry. Investors may also track the historical ROE trends over time in order to expand their frame of reference. ROA shows how effective the firm is at using their total assets to generate profit. Investors often use the ROA figures to help cross-examine businesses within the same industry. This financial ratio can even become more useful when comparing it to the industry average or other marks like return or historical performance. Investors may feel more comfortable picking shares to add to the portfolio after thoroughly combing through the fundamentals. EPS is an important metric used to determine the common shareholder’s portion of the company’s profit. Earnings per share measures each common share’s profit allocation in relation to the company’s total profit.
Albemarle Corp (ALB) boasts a market cap of 10720m and last touched 99.61 on a recent bid. Shares moved -1.36% or -1.37 in the most recent session on dollar volume of 97189680.
Amateur investors can sometimes become overwhelmed by the speed and volatility of the stock market. Often times, avoiding big mistakes early on can be the difference between staying in the game or being prematurely forced to the sidelines. One of the biggest mistakes that a new investor can make is not creating a realistic plan. A well-crafted plan will generally include risk tolerance, time horizon, and amount and frequency of investments. Having a clear plan for attaining goals can help the investor stay focused when the terrain gets rocky. Another common mistake for investors is buying high and selling low. Of course, everybody preaches the buy low sell high mantra, but it is much easier said than done. Getting caught up in the day to day market swings can lead the investor to do just the opposite and become a hot stock chaser instead of a disciplined decision maker.