Alcoa (NYSE:AA) Raised to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Alcoa (NYSE:AA) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Thursday morning.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. B. Riley raised shares of Alcoa from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $41.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Alcoa from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Alcoa from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $36.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Alcoa from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Alcoa from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.45.

Alcoa Price Performance

Shares of AA opened at $41.71 on Thursday. Alcoa has a 1-year low of $23.07 and a 1-year high of $45.48. The stock has a market cap of $7.49 billion, a PE ratio of -11.09 and a beta of 2.42. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The industrial products company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.34. Alcoa had a negative net margin of 5.14% and a negative return on equity of 7.29%. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned ($1.14) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Alcoa will post 0.29 EPS for the current year.

Alcoa Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 29th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 29th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.96%. Alcoa’s payout ratio is -10.64%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alcoa

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AA. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alcoa in the 1st quarter valued at $210,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise increased its stake in Alcoa by 24.7% in the 1st quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 4,044 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $137,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC increased its stake in Alcoa by 12.9% in the 1st quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 1,351,720 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $45,675,000 after buying an additional 154,403 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new position in Alcoa in the 1st quarter valued at $252,000. Finally, ARGA Investment Management LP increased its stake in Alcoa by 202.2% in the 1st quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 1,491,544 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $50,399,000 after buying an additional 997,912 shares during the period. 82.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Alcoa

Alcoa Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, produces and sells bauxite, alumina, and aluminum products in the United States, Spain, Australia, Iceland, Norway, Brazil, Canada, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Alumina and Aluminum. It engages in bauxite mining operations; and processes bauxite into alumina and sells it to customers who process it into industrial chemical products, as well as aluminum smelting and casting businesses.