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

Alcoa Co. (NYSE:AA) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,090,000 shares, a growth of 10.3% from the January 15th total of 8,240,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,590,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Alcoa from $55.00 to $51.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. B. Riley upgraded Alcoa to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Alcoa from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com upgraded Alcoa from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Alcoa to $43.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alcoa presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.55.

Institutional Trading of Alcoa

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AA. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its stake in shares of Alcoa by 41.6% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 313,822 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,107,000 after purchasing an additional 92,201 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV bought a new position in shares of Alcoa during the third quarter valued at approximately $10,201,000. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Alcoa by 2.0% during the third quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 1,421,955 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $54,859,000 after purchasing an additional 27,217 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Alcoa by 6.2% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 628,116 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $24,233,000 after purchasing an additional 36,869 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP increased its stake in shares of Alcoa by 73.0% during the third quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 36,848 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,422,000 after purchasing an additional 15,546 shares in the last quarter.

Alcoa Stock Performance

Alcoa stock opened at $34.12 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $39.03 and a 200-day moving average of $37.50. The firm has a market cap of $8.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -213.26, 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.

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

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.