Alcoa Co. (NYSE:AA) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Alcoa Co. (NYSE:AA) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $46.73.

AA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America upped their price objective on Alcoa to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 28th. UBS Group raised their price target on Alcoa from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. B. Riley raised shares of Alcoa from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $41.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com raised shares of Alcoa from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Alcoa from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th.

Alcoa Stock Performance

Alcoa stock opened at $37.84 on Friday. Alcoa has a twelve month low of $24.86 and a twelve month high of $47.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $42.51 and its 200 day moving average is $38.12. The company has a market capitalization of $9.78 billion, a P/E ratio of -21.50, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 2.44.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The industrial products company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.34. Alcoa had a negative return on equity of 1.45% and a negative net margin of 2.65%. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted ($1.14) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alcoa will post 0.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alcoa Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 29th were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 29th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. Alcoa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -22.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alcoa news, EVP Renato Bacchi sold 23,867 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.29, for a total transaction of $1,009,335.43. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,423,935.93. This trade represents a 29.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alcoa

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Alcoa by 19.5% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,651 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 596 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alcoa by 536.7% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,878 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $114,000 after acquiring an additional 2,426 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alcoa by 79.2% in the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 22,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $891,000 after acquiring an additional 9,900 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Alcoa by 36.9% in the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 530,114 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $21,088,000 after acquiring an additional 142,761 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One SA PTY Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Alcoa during the second quarter worth about $1,276,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.39% of the company’s stock.

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.