Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes Position in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 6,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,077,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in Albemarle by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,630,394 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $230,603,000 after buying an additional 207,770 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 3.7% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,475,832 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $119,710,000 after acquiring an additional 52,698 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 1.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,263,734 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $102,464,000 after acquiring an additional 22,856 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 57.7% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,241,106 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $175,542,000 after acquiring an additional 453,881 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter worth about $165,271,000. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Albemarle

In related news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 16,393 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.72, for a total value of $3,011,721.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 87,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,078,990.68. This trade represents a 15.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ALB. Mizuho decreased their target price on Albemarle from $205.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $245.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $170.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Berenberg Bank boosted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $153.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $253.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Albemarle currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.58.

Albemarle Price Performance

NYSE:ALB opened at $135.27 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a market capitalization of $15.95 billion, a P/E ratio of -39.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.34. Albemarle Corporation has a 12 month low of $64.24 and a 12 month high of $221.00. The business’s 50-day moving average is $170.05 and its 200 day moving average is $169.20.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $1.71. Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 5.22% and a negative net margin of 5.00%.The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.18) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Albemarle Corporation will post 12.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th were given a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 12th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently -47.51%.

Albemarle Profile

Albemarle Corporation is a leading global specialty chemicals company primarily engaged in the production and distribution of lithium, bromine, and catalysts. Its lithium segment supplies key components used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics, and grid storage systems. The company’s bromine specialty products serve a wide range of industries, including oil and gas drilling fluids, fire safety solutions, and water treatment. In its catalysts division, Albemarle provides products for petroleum refining, chemical processing and emissions control.

Founded in 1994 as a spin-off from Ethyl Corporation, Albemarle has grown through strategic acquisitions and capacity expansions to become one of the world’s foremost chemical producers.