Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Stock Holdings Cut by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 167,458 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 7,631 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $24,194,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eagle Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Albemarle by 149.3% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 14,058 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,391,000 after purchasing an additional 8,420 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in Albemarle by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 283,876 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $48,270,000 after purchasing an additional 14,593 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Albemarle by 80.3% during the 3rd quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,757 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,359,000 after purchasing an additional 8,799 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 235.9% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 12,107 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,749,000 after acquiring an additional 8,503 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALB has been the subject of several research reports. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Albemarle in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $155.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Albemarle from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $178.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Vertical Research lowered Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $175.05.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $116.88 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Albemarle Co. has a 1 year low of $106.69 and a 1 year high of $247.44. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $122.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $127.50. The firm has a market cap of $13.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.62.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.86. Albemarle had a return on equity of 26.62% and a net margin of 16.36%. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $8.62 earnings per share. Albemarle’s quarterly revenue was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.