Howmet Aerospace (NYSE:HWM) Sets New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Howmet Aerospace Inc. (NYSE:HWM) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $125.00 to $155.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Howmet Aerospace traded as high as $137.41 and last traded at $136.62, with a volume of 3218206 shares. The stock had previously closed at $133.42.

HWM has been the subject of several other reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Howmet Aerospace from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Howmet Aerospace from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Howmet Aerospace from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group upped their target price on Howmet Aerospace from $103.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Howmet Aerospace from $124.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Howmet Aerospace presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.28.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HWM. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Howmet Aerospace by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 263,830 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,450,000 after buying an additional 28,568 shares during the period. Vista Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Howmet Aerospace in the 4th quarter worth approximately $531,000. Genesis Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Howmet Aerospace in the fourth quarter worth $249,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Howmet Aerospace by 135.9% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 26,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,622,000 after purchasing an additional 15,070 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Howmet Aerospace during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $289,000. 90.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Howmet Aerospace Stock Down 0.9 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $55.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.50. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $120.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $109.29. The company has a current ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Howmet Aerospace (NYSE:HWM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.03. Howmet Aerospace had a return on equity of 25.74% and a net margin of 15.55%. The firm had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Howmet Aerospace Inc. will post 3.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Howmet Aerospace Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This is a boost from Howmet Aerospace’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Howmet Aerospace’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.18%.

About Howmet Aerospace

Howmet Aerospace Inc provides advanced engineered solutions for the aerospace and transportation industries in the United States, Japan, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Italy, Canada, Poland, China, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Engine Products, Fastening Systems, Engineered Structures, and Forged Wheels.