Alcoa Co. (NYSE:AA – Get Rating) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors bought 27,729 put options on the company. This is an increase of 20% compared to the typical daily volume of 23,068 put options.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of equities research analysts recently commented on AA shares. Wolfe Research cut shares of Alcoa from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Alcoa from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $51.00 to $66.00 in a research note on Friday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Alcoa from $57.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Alcoa from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 22nd. Finally, B. Riley decreased their target price on shares of Alcoa from $84.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 28th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.82.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alcoa
A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AA. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Alcoa by 523.5% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,039 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $121,000 after purchasing an additional 1,712 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Alcoa by 43.8% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,383,551 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $380,332,000 after acquiring an additional 1,943,329 shares during the period. Alpha Paradigm Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alcoa during the fourth quarter valued at $297,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Alcoa by 84.0% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 327,376 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $19,505,000 after acquiring an additional 149,417 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP boosted its holdings in shares of Alcoa by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 17,559 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,046,000 after acquiring an additional 1,162 shares during the period.
Alcoa Stock Down 2.5 %
Shares of AA traded down $0.90 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $34.61. 224,284 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,079,652. The firm has a market cap of $6.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 2.31. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.06. Alcoa has a 12-month low of $34.80 and a 12-month high of $98.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.
Alcoa (NYSE:AA – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 20th. The industrial products company reported $2.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.60 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.48 billion. Alcoa had a net margin of 7.19% and a return on equity of 30.66%. The business’s revenue was up 28.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.49 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Alcoa will post 7.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Alcoa Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 9th were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 8th. Alcoa’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.86%.
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 three segments: Bauxite, 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.