Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Has $1.46 Million Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky trimmed its holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,095 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 448 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,459,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. USCF Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. USCF Advisers LLC now owns 200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Arlington Trust Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 2,942.9% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 213 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Tyler Stone Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on ALB. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $112.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of Albemarle from $178.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $130.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $165.11.

Albemarle Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Albemarle stock opened at $94.66 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $119.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $124.55. Albemarle Co. has a 12-month low of $92.29 and a 12-month high of $247.44.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Albemarle had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 4.02%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $10.32 EPS. Research analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post 2.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Albemarle news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total transaction of $114,251.79. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $921,875.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Albemarle news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total transaction of $114,251.79. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $921,875.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total transaction of $194,950.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,743 shares in the company, valued at approximately $626,882.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Company 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.