Kaiser Aluminum (NASDAQ:KALU) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Shares of Kaiser Aluminum Corporation (NASDAQ:KALU) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $111.09 and last traded at $111.61, with a volume of 23387 shares. The stock had previously closed at $109.91.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KALU has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Kaiser Aluminum from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Zacks Research upgraded Kaiser Aluminum from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Wall Street Zen raised Kaiser Aluminum from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 25th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Kaiser Aluminum from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Kaiser Aluminum from $82.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kaiser Aluminum currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.67.

Kaiser Aluminum Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.20 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 2.48 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $92.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $83.57.

Kaiser Aluminum (NASDAQ:KALU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 2nd. The industrial products company reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $765.40 million for the quarter. Kaiser Aluminum had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 10.67%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Kaiser Aluminum Corporation will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kaiser Aluminum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 24th were paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 24th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Kaiser Aluminum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.70%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Blain Tiffany sold 8,656 shares of Kaiser Aluminum stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.92, for a total transaction of $812,971.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 26,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,467,748. The trade was a 24.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kaiser Aluminum

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KALU. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Kaiser Aluminum by 31.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,154,415 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $92,238,000 after purchasing an additional 279,231 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Kaiser Aluminum by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 817,743 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $63,095,000 after buying an additional 4,743 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kaiser Aluminum by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 588,720 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $45,426,000 after buying an additional 52,512 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Kaiser Aluminum by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 502,446 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,769,000 after buying an additional 5,623 shares during the period. Finally, Tributary Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Kaiser Aluminum by 92.5% in the 3rd quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 500,418 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,612,000 after buying an additional 240,518 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

About Kaiser Aluminum

Kaiser Aluminum Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in manufacture and sale of semi-fabricated specialty aluminum mill products in the United States and internationally. It offers rolled, extruded, and drawn aluminum products used for aerospace and defense, aluminum beverage and food packaging, automotive and general engineering products.