California State Teachers Retirement System Grows Holdings in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 22.0% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 136,123 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,549 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $24,438,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ALB. Evexia Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Evexia Wealth LLC now owns 2,088 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $387,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in Albemarle by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,468 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $349,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC grew its holdings in Albemarle by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC now owns 5,769 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $816,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp grew its holdings in Albemarle by 2.3% in the first quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 2,952 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $530,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,592 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $508,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ALB. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Albemarle from $244.00 to $211.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Albemarle from $170.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut their price target on shares of Albemarle from $188.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Albemarle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.22.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of Albemarle stock opened at $117.46 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $142.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $165.79. Albemarle Corporation has a 12 month low of $64.95 and a 12 month high of $221.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.85 billion, a P/E ratio of -34.45 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.21.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by $1.71. Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 5.22% and a negative net margin of 5.00%.The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.18) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Albemarle Corporation will post 12.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This is a positive change from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently -47.51%.

Insider Activity at Albemarle

In other news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 16,393 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.72, for a total value of $3,011,721.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 87,519 shares in the company, valued at $16,078,990.68. This represents a 15.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Albemarle Profile

Albemarle Corporation is a leading global specialty chemicals company primarily engaged in the production and distribution of lithium, bromine, and catalysts. Its lithium segment supplies key components used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics, and grid storage systems. The company’s bromine specialty products serve a wide range of industries, including oil and gas drilling fluids, fire safety solutions, and water treatment. In its catalysts division, Albemarle provides products for petroleum refining, chemical processing and emissions control.

Founded in 1994 as a spin-off from Ethyl Corporation, Albemarle has grown through strategic acquisitions and capacity expansions to become one of the world’s foremost chemical producers.