Alcoa Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:AA)

Alcoa Co. (NYSE:AA) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Investors bought 27,556 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 53% compared to the average volume of 18,056 call options.

Alcoa Stock Down 4.4 %

Shares of NYSE AA opened at $30.58 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.13. Alcoa has a 12-month low of $27.12 and a 12-month high of $47.77. 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 firm has a market cap of $7.92 billion, a PE ratio of -191.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 2.55.

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

Alcoa Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. Alcoa’s payout ratio is presently -250.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AA. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Alcoa by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,979,129 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $981,491,000 after acquiring an additional 165,420 shares during the period. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC lifted its stake in Alcoa by 4,023.0% during the third quarter. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC now owns 10,795,880 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $416,505,000 after purchasing an additional 10,534,036 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,805,915 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Alcoa in the fourth quarter worth about $259,273,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Alcoa by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,232,766 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $159,966,000 after buying an additional 39,022 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on AA. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Alcoa to $43.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Alcoa to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Alcoa from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Alcoa from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Alcoa from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.92.

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.