Alcoa (NYSE:AA) Shares Gap Up to $38.58

Alcoa Co. (NYSE:AA)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $38.58, but opened at $39.42. Alcoa shares last traded at $39.36, with a volume of 295,956 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on AA. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Alcoa from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Wolfe Research raised Alcoa from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $36.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Alcoa in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of Alcoa from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $43.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Alcoa from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.64.

Alcoa Stock Up 1.6 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $7.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.26 and a beta of 2.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $32.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.07.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The industrial products company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.84 billion. Alcoa had a negative return on equity of 7.29% and a negative net margin of 5.14%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.35) EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Alcoa Co. will post 0.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alcoa Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.02%. Alcoa’s dividend payout ratio is currently -10.64%.

Institutional Trading of Alcoa

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in Alcoa by 15.1% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,353 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alcoa by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 26,965 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,073,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of Alcoa by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 7,750 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $262,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 596 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in Alcoa by 0.4% during the first quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 153,900 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,200,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. 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.