Alcoa (NYSE:AA) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Alcoa (NYSE:AA)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $62.74, but opened at $59.56. Alcoa shares last traded at $60.2250, with a volume of 3,871,917 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AA shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Alcoa from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $52.00 target price on shares of Alcoa in a report on Monday, December 15th. HSBC increased their price target on Alcoa from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Zacks Research upgraded Alcoa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective (up previously from $45.00) on shares of Alcoa in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.75.

Alcoa Stock Down 2.8%

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $44.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.63. The stock has a market cap of $15.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.25 and a beta of 1.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.13. Alcoa had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 8.91%.The business had revenue of $2.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.03 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.57 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Alcoa will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alcoa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 4th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Alcoa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.24%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alcoa

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mirabella Financial Services LLP increased its holdings in shares of Alcoa by 12,233.1% during the third quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP now owns 40,082,462 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,318,312,000 after buying an additional 39,757,462 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Alcoa during the 2nd quarter worth $97,933,000. L1 Capital Pty Ltd raised its position in Alcoa by 178.8% in the second quarter. L1 Capital Pty Ltd now owns 4,814,342 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $142,071,000 after purchasing an additional 3,087,298 shares during the last quarter. Drummond Knight Asset Management Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Alcoa during the second quarter valued at about $44,893,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Alcoa during the second quarter worth about $44,151,000.

About Alcoa

Alcoa Corporation is a global industry leader in the production and management of aluminum, offering an integrated value chain that spans bauxite mining, alumina refining, primary aluminum smelting and the fabrication of value-added products. The company’s operations are organized into segments that include raw material extraction, chemical processing and the manufacture of metal mill products and engineered solutions.

Alcoa’s product portfolio serves diverse end markets such as aerospace, automotive, packaging, construction, electrical and industrial applications.