Alcoa (NYSE:AA) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Alcoa Co. (NYSE:AA) saw an uptick in trading volume on Thursday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $27.00 to $32.00. UBS Group currently has a sell rating on the stock. 2,384,408 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 62% from the previous session’s volume of 6,303,964 shares.The stock last traded at $33.98 and had previously closed at $35.55.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on AA. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Alcoa from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Alcoa from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Alcoa from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America upped their price target on Alcoa from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Alcoa from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.96.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alcoa

In other Alcoa news, EVP Tammi A. Jones sold 26,468 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.78, for a total value of $814,685.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 41,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,267,089.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alcoa

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in shares of Alcoa by 3,731.1% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 799,705 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,190,000 after acquiring an additional 778,831 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alcoa by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,234,472 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $35,874,000 after acquiring an additional 54,876 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Alcoa by 132.2% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 112,082 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,824,000 after acquiring an additional 63,816 shares in the last quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alcoa during the 4th quarter worth about $227,000. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its position in shares of Alcoa by 90.9% during the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 61,801 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,796,000 after purchasing an additional 29,431 shares during the last quarter.

Alcoa Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $31.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.06. The stock has a market cap of $6.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 2.47.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The industrial products company reported ($0.81) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.62) by ($0.19). Alcoa had a negative return on equity of 8.30% and a negative net margin of 6.41%. The company had revenue of $2.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.23) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alcoa Co. will post 0.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Alcoa Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 4th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.13%. Alcoa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -10.64%.

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.