Kaiser Aluminum Co. (NASDAQ:KALU) Short Interest Down 14.6% in August

Kaiser Aluminum Co. (NASDAQ:KALU) was the target of a large decline in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 412,400 shares, a decline of 14.6% from the August 15th total of 482,800 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 138,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.0 days. Approximately 2.6% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Kaiser Aluminum Stock Performance

Shares of KALU stock traded up $0.82 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $70.35. The company had a trading volume of 34,529 shares, compared to its average volume of 140,938. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 2.55. Kaiser Aluminum has a one year low of $53.67 and a one year high of $102.42. The firm has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a PE ratio of 20.21 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $76.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $85.13.

Kaiser Aluminum (NASDAQ:KALU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.94 by ($0.29). The business had revenue of $773.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $773.89 million. Kaiser Aluminum had a return on equity of 6.84% and a net margin of 1.37%. The firm’s revenue was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.26 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Kaiser Aluminum will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kaiser Aluminum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 25th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.38%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 25th. Kaiser Aluminum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kaiser Aluminum

In related news, CEO Keith Harvey purchased 2,588 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The stock was bought at an average price of $77.23 per share, for a total transaction of $199,871.24. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 103,550 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,997,166.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. National Bank of Canada FI purchased a new stake in Kaiser Aluminum during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Kaiser Aluminum by 400.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 540 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 432 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kaiser Aluminum during the 2nd quarter valued at about $63,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC increased its holdings in Kaiser Aluminum by 79.7% in the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 861 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Kaiser Aluminum by 941.4% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 906 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 819 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Benchmark boosted their target price on Kaiser Aluminum from $84.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th.

About Kaiser Aluminum

Kaiser Aluminum Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in manufacture and sale of semi-fabricated specialty aluminum mill products in the United States and internationally. It offers rolled, extruded, and drawn aluminum products used for aerospace and defense, aluminum beverage and food packaging, automotive and general engineering products.