New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 2,813 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

New York State Teachers Retirement System decreased its holdings in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 133,126 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 2,813 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.11% of Albemarle worth $19,234,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Eagle Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Albemarle by 149.3% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 14,058 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,391,000 after buying an additional 8,420 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 283,876 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $48,270,000 after purchasing an additional 14,593 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 80.3% during the 3rd quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,757 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,359,000 after purchasing an additional 8,799 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 412,821 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $70,179,000 after purchasing an additional 33,662 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its position in Albemarle by 235.9% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 12,107 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,749,000 after buying an additional 8,503 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America raised Albemarle from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $154.00 to $149.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 12th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Albemarle in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $220.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $176.70.

Albemarle Trading Up 6.7 %

Shares of ALB stock opened at $131.70 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $15.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.62. Albemarle Co. has a 1 year low of $106.69 and a 1 year high of $247.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $122.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $131.88.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.86. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. Albemarle had a return on equity of 26.62% and a net margin of 16.36%. The company’s revenue was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $8.62 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.99%.

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.