Alcoa Co. (NYSE:AA) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Alcoa Co. (NYSE:AA) was the target of a large drop in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,500,000 shares, a drop of 6.5% from the January 15th total of 9,090,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,790,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.8 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alcoa

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alcoa by 4,023.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC now owns 10,795,880 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $416,505,000 after buying an additional 10,534,036 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Alcoa in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $259,273,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Alcoa by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,563,645 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $368,965,000 after acquiring an additional 1,805,915 shares during the period. Sourcerock Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Alcoa by 319.1% during the fourth quarter. Sourcerock Group LLC now owns 1,978,009 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $74,729,000 after acquiring an additional 1,506,009 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co boosted its holdings in shares of Alcoa by 11,317.8% in the third quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 1,427,799 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $55,084,000 after acquiring an additional 1,415,294 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AA. Argus upgraded shares of Alcoa from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $48.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America increased their price objective on Alcoa to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Alcoa from $55.00 to $51.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Alcoa to $43.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Alcoa from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.55.

Alcoa Stock Performance

NYSE AA traded down $0.15 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $36.24. 3,110,074 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,195,430. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.36 billion, a P/E ratio of -226.47, a P/E/G ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 2.43. Alcoa has a 1 year low of $24.86 and a 1 year high of $47.77. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.72.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.13. Alcoa had a net margin of 0.50% and a return on equity of 5.54%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Alcoa will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current year.

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.