Alcoa (NYSE:AA) Shares Gap Down to $34.30

Alcoa Co. (NYSE:AA)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $34.30, but opened at $33.19. Alcoa shares last traded at $33.16, with a volume of 552,551 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Alcoa from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. UBS Group upgraded Alcoa from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $32.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Alcoa from $46.00 to $43.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Alcoa from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Alcoa from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.40.

Alcoa Trading Up 1.2 %

The firm has a market cap of $5.83 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.63 and a beta of 2.45. The business’s 50 day moving average is $35.29 and its 200-day moving average is $35.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The industrial products company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.05. Alcoa had a negative net margin of 5.14% and a negative return on equity of 7.29%. The company had revenue of $2.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.35) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Alcoa Co. will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alcoa Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. Alcoa’s dividend payout ratio is presently -10.64%.

Institutional Trading of Alcoa

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd bought a new position in shares of Alcoa in the second quarter worth $93,061,000. L1 Capital Pty Ltd bought a new position in Alcoa in the 1st quarter valued at about $72,658,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Alcoa in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,730,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in Alcoa by 770.9% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,422,797 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $56,599,000 after buying an additional 1,259,430 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Alcoa by 34.4% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,312,340 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $146,626,000 after buying an additional 1,104,423 shares in the last quarter. 82.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alcoa Company Profile

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.