California State Teachers Retirement System Boosts Stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 4.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 217,993 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 8,969 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.19% of Albemarle worth $28,718,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Albemarle by 24.5% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,377 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $199,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. raised its stake in Albemarle by 235.9% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 12,107 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,749,000 after purchasing an additional 8,503 shares during the period. JB Capital LLC purchased a new position in Albemarle during the fourth quarter worth about $203,000. Oak Thistle LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 464.3% in the 4th quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 7,122 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,029,000 after acquiring an additional 5,860 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 35,507 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,130,000 after purchasing an additional 3,300 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB stock traded up $1.14 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $93.65. The company had a trading volume of 5,755,003 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,042,982. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $103.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $115.94. Albemarle Co. has a 52-week low of $90.02 and a 52-week high of $215.82. The stock has a market cap of $11.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.05, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.84 and a quick ratio of 1.91.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.09). Albemarle had a net margin of 4.02% and a return on equity of 14.53%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $10.32 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. This is an increase from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $135.00 target price (down previously from $150.00) on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Citigroup lowered their target price on Albemarle from $137.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Albemarle from $170.00 to $127.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Mizuho lowered their target price on Albemarle from $128.00 to $103.00 in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Berenberg Bank cut Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $160.00 to $83.00 in a report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $139.10.

Insider Buying and Selling at Albemarle

In other Albemarle news, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total value of $194,950.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,743 shares in the company, valued at approximately $626,882.31. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total value of $194,950.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,743 shares in the company, valued at $626,882.31. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total value of $114,251.79. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,802 shares in the company, valued at $921,875.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

About Albemarle

Albemarle Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets engineered specialty chemicals worldwide. It operates through three segments: Energy Storage, Specialties and Ketjen. The Energy Storage segment offers lithium compounds, including lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide, and lithium chloride; technical services for the handling and use of reactive lithium products; and lithium-containing by-products recycling services.