Teacher Retirement System of Texas Acquires Shares of 17,184 Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 17,184 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $1,238,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,594,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,256,294,000 after purchasing an additional 359,014 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,795,891 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $240,044,000 after acquiring an additional 53,985 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,990,762 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $171,365,000 after acquiring an additional 25,207 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,432,153 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $123,280,000 after acquiring an additional 8,243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,290,797 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $111,112,000 after acquiring an additional 139,600 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Albemarle Price Performance

ALB opened at $71.07 on Friday. Albemarle Corporation has a 12-month low of $49.43 and a 12-month high of $113.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.11, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $61.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.49. The company has a market capitalization of $8.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.39 and a beta of 1.63.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.18) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.62) by $0.44. Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.92% and a negative net margin of 22.39%. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.26 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. Albemarle's dividend payout ratio is currently -14.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALB has been the topic of several research reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $77.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $80.00 to $60.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. UBS Group set a $57.00 price target on shares of Albemarle and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $85.00 to $64.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $85.00 to $65.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $91.29.

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.

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