Arizona State Retirement System Purchases 466 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,138 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 466 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $2,939,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP boosted its stake in Albemarle by 1,400.0% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 270 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 340.6% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 304 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 606.5% in the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 325 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. First Community Trust NA boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 55.0% in the 4th quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on ALB. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $150.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI cut Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Albemarle from $109.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Clarkson Capital assumed coverage on shares of Albemarle in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $112.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $107.05.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Albemarle stock opened at $75.57 on Monday. Albemarle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $67.23 and a fifty-two week high of $137.50. The stock has a market cap of $8.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.75 and a beta of 1.70. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $83.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $91.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.95.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative net margin of 21.93% and a negative return on equity of 1.72%. As a group, analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is -14.46%.

About Albemarle

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.