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Albemarle (ALB) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know

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Albemarle (ALB - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $236.02, moving +1.13% from the previous trading session. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.41%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.01%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.15%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the specialty chemicals company had lost 9.36% over the past month. This has lagged the Basic Materials sector's gain of 4.05% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.36% in that time.

Albemarle will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be February 16, 2022. On that day, Albemarle is projected to report earnings of $0.96 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 17.95%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $884.18 million, up 0.57% from the year-ago period.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Albemarle. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable 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 past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 4.16% higher. Albemarle is holding a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) right now.

Looking at its valuation, Albemarle is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 39.13. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 12.68, which means Albemarle is trading at a premium to the group.

We can also see that ALB currently has a PEG ratio of 1.78. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. The Chemical - Diversified industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1.06 as of yesterday's close.

The Chemical - Diversified industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 92, putting it in the top 37% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

To follow ALB in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.


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