Alcoa (NYSE:AA) Lifted to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Alcoa (NYSE:AA) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report report published on Monday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $36.50 price target on the industrial products company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $28.50.

AA has been the subject of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Alcoa from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. B. Riley lifted their price objective on Alcoa from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Alcoa from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Alcoa from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Alcoa from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alcoa has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $33.54.

Alcoa Trading Up 2.3 %

NYSE AA opened at $36.35 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.67, a PEG ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 2.47. Alcoa has a one year low of $23.07 and a one year high of $38.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The business’s fifty day moving average is $31.31 and its 200-day moving average is $29.16.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The industrial products company reported ($0.81) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.62) by ($0.19). The business had revenue of $2.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.55 billion. Alcoa had a negative return on equity of 8.51% and a negative net margin of 6.41%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.23) earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Alcoa will post 0.17 EPS for the current year.

Alcoa Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 4th. Alcoa’s payout ratio is -10.64%.

Insider Transactions at Alcoa

In other news, EVP Tammi A. Jones sold 26,468 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.78, for a total transaction of $814,685.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 41,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,267,089.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Institutional Trading of Alcoa

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in Alcoa in the first quarter valued at approximately $422,000. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its position in Alcoa by 2.6% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 43,875 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,483,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Alcoa by 15.0% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 14,344 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $485,000 after purchasing an additional 1,867 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co lifted its position in Alcoa by 5.7% in the first 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 last quarter. Finally, ARGA Investment Management LP lifted its position in Alcoa by 202.2% in the first quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 1,491,544 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $50,399,000 after purchasing an additional 997,912 shares during the last quarter.

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.