Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Trims Stock Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky cut its holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,095 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 448 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,459,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in Albemarle in the fourth quarter valued at $102,000. Covenant Partners LLC increased its stake in Albemarle by 84.7% in the fourth quarter. Covenant Partners LLC now owns 2,205 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 1,011 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Albemarle in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Peloton Wealth Strategists increased its stake in Albemarle by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. Peloton Wealth Strategists now owns 6,765 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $977,000 after purchasing an additional 1,068 shares during the period. Finally, Kingfisher Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Kingfisher Capital LLC now owns 15,721 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,271,000 after acquiring an additional 1,604 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $137.00 to $156.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $135.00 target price (down from $150.00) on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price 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 restated an “outperform” rating and set a $157.00 target price on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $178.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Albemarle has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $165.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB opened at $94.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.84. The company has a market capitalization of $11.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.42, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.61. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $119.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $124.55. Albemarle Co. has a 1 year low of $92.29 and a 1 year high of $247.44.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.09). Albemarle had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 4.02%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $10.32 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 47.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 2.49 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.18%.

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.