Alaska Permanent Fund Corp Invests $433,000 in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp purchased a new stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,995 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $433,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kingfisher Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 0.6% in the third quarter. Kingfisher Capital LLC now owns 14,117 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,401,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC lifted its position in Albemarle by 14.1% during the third quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 688 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Patron Partners LLC grew its stake in Albemarle by 5.8% during the third quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 1,541 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $262,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Regatta Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in Albemarle by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Regatta Capital Group LLC now owns 2,371 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $343,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Finally, Innovis Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Innovis Asset Management LLC now owns 15,540 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,642,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Albemarle Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE ALB opened at $116.88 on Friday. Albemarle Co. has a 52 week low of $106.69 and a 52 week high of $247.44. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $122.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $128.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a market cap of $13.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.62.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. Albemarle had a net margin of 16.36% and a return on equity of 26.62%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $8.62 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ALB. Bank of America raised Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $137.00 to $156.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Vertical Research downgraded Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Albemarle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $155.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $175.05.

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.