Traders Purchase Large Volume of Alcoa Call Options (NYSE:AA)

Alcoa Co. (NYSE:AA) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Investors purchased 31,002 call options on the company. This is an increase of 86% compared to the average daily volume of 16,681 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on AA shares. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Alcoa to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 28th. Argus upgraded Alcoa from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $48.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. B. Riley upgraded Alcoa from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $41.00 to $50.00 in a report on Thursday, October 17th. B. Riley Financial reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $41.00 target price on shares of Alcoa in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Alcoa from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $36.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alcoa currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alcoa

In other news, EVP Renato Bacchi sold 23,867 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.29, for a total transaction of $1,009,335.43. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,423,935.93. This represents a 29.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alcoa

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alcoa in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Alcoa by 481.7% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 762 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 631 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Alcoa in the third quarter valued at $43,000. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Alcoa by 1,945.5% during the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 1,125 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 1,070 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millburn Ridgefield Corp acquired a new position in shares of Alcoa during the 3rd quarter worth about $89,000. 82.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alcoa Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of Alcoa stock opened at $37.15 on Tuesday. Alcoa has a fifty-two week low of $24.86 and a fifty-two week high of $47.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.11, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 2.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $42.20 and a 200 day moving average of $37.97.

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

Alcoa Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 29th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. 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 1.08%. Alcoa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -22.73%.

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.