Albemarle Corp (ALB.PA) stock analysis

P/E above its 5-year median

Albemarle's P/E of 22.9 is above its own 5-year median of 21.8.

P/E below the industry

Albemarle's P/E of 22.9 is below the Chemicals and Allied Products median of 23.9.

EV/EBITDA below its 5-year median

Albemarle's EV/EBITDA of 9.1 is below its 5-year median of 23.5.

P/B below the industry

Albemarle's price-to-book of 1.06 is below the Chemicals and Allied Products median of 1.48.

Trading below fair value

The share price of $94.97 is below our fair value estimate of $149.55.

Margin of safety over 20%

The price is 36.5% below fair value, more than the 20% cushion we look for.

Revenue growing under 10% a year

Revenue grew -11.1% a year over the last three fiscal years, short of the 10% we look for.

EPS growth over 3 years

Needs positive EPS three years ago and today.

Earnings acceleration

Needs positive net income now, a year ago and five years ago.

Growing faster than the industry

Revenue grew 24.4% over the last twelve months; the Chemicals and Allied Products median is 5.7%.

Guidance raised

Albemarle raised its Segment FY 2026E Specialties net sales outlook on Aug 5, 2026.

Gross margin improving

Gross margin was 25.8% over the last twelve months, against 12.3% a year earlier.

Return on equity under 15%

Return on equity was 6.6% over the last twelve months and averaged 8.5% over five years; we look for 15% on both.

Return on capital under 10%

Return on invested capital was 2.8%, below the 10% that usually covers the cost of capital.

Return on equity above the industry

Albemarle's return on equity of 6.6% is above the Chemicals and Allied Products median of 3.7%.

Earnings over 5 years

Needs positive net income five years ago and in the latest year.

Net margin above its 5-year average

Net margin was 11.1% over the last twelve months, against a 5-year average of 5.0%.

Net margin above the industry

Albemarle's net margin of 11.1% is above the Chemicals and Allied Products median of 0.8%.

Low debt

Debt is 17.8% of shareholders' equity, under the 40% we consider low.

Debt falling against equity

Debt to equity fell from 83.7% five years ago to 17.8%.

Debt covered by cash flow

Operating cash flow over the last twelve months equals 98.4% of total debt.

Interest coverage

Interest expense is not reported separately.

Short-term assets cover short-term debts

Current assets are 2.34 times current liabilities.

Bankruptcy risk in the grey zone

The Altman Z-score is 2.44; above 3 is the safe zone and below 1.8 the distress zone.

Pays a dividend

Albemarle paid dividends worth 1.7% of the share price over the last twelve months.

Yield below Treasuries

The 1.7% yield is below the 4.4% on a 1-year Treasury.

Yield below the top quarter

The top quarter of US dividend payers yield 3.9% or more; Albemarle yields 1.7%.

Dividend not cut

The dividend per share has not fallen by more than 10% in any of the last 10 fiscal years.

Covered by earnings

Dividends take 28.0% of net income.

Covered by free cash flow

Dividends take 13.2% of free cash flow.