Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Decreases Stake in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lessened its stake in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 34.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,672 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 11,580 shares during the quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,358,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ALB. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 1.1% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 73,027 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,582,000 after buying an additional 763 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC boosted its position in Albemarle by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 7,142 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $485,000 after buying an additional 598 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Albemarle by 37.3% in the 2nd quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 43,933 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,753,000 after acquiring an additional 11,939 shares during the last quarter. 1248 Management LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 6.8% in the second quarter. 1248 Management LLC now owns 12,600 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $794,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the period. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 52.0% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 24,236 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,519,000 after acquiring an additional 8,287 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Albemarle from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Baird R W raised Albemarle from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $159.00 price objective on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on Albemarle from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $120.21.

Albemarle Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $146.75 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.27 billion, a P/E ratio of -92.30 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.27. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $115.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $89.69. Albemarle Corporation has a 52-week low of $49.43 and a 52-week high of $150.72.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.19) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.92) by $0.73. The company had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.27 billion. Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 0.10% and a negative net margin of 0.43%.The firm’s revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($1.55) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -101.89%.

Albemarle Company 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.