Retirement Systems of Alabama Has $3.74 Million Stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lessened its holdings in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,863 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 669 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $3,737,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Assetmark Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. USCF Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Albemarle by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. USCF Advisers LLC now owns 200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Tyler Stone Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 21,400.0% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 215 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $130.78 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $123.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $125.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.84 and a quick ratio of 1.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.56, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.65. Albemarle Co. has a one year low of $106.69 and a one year high of $247.44.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.09). Albemarle had a net margin of 4.02% and a return on equity of 14.53%. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $10.32 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post 2.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is 58.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on ALB. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Albemarle from $138.00 to $157.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Albemarle from $178.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Albemarle in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Albemarle from $137.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $171.80.

Albemarle Profile

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.