Alcoa (NYSE:AA) Trading Up 9.5% – Time to Buy?

Shares of Alcoa (NYSE:AA) were up 9.5% on Friday . The company traded as high as $72.11 and last traded at $72.5770. Approximately 2,460,143 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 62% from the average daily volume of 6,541,365 shares. The stock had previously closed at $66.27.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research cut Alcoa from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley raised Alcoa from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $64.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $68.00 price objective on Alcoa in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. B. Riley Financial raised their price objective on Alcoa from $78.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Alcoa from $54.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.60.

Alcoa Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $65.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $57.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a market cap of $18.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.15 and a beta of 1.51.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The industrial products company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.60 by ($0.20). Alcoa had a net margin of 8.27% and a return on equity of 12.57%. The business had revenue of $3.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.15 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Alcoa will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alcoa Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 19th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Alcoa’s payout ratio is currently 10.13%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alcoa

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Alcoa by 187.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 408,624 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $21,902,000 after purchasing an additional 266,574 shares during the period. Moran Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alcoa in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,631,000. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alcoa in the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,606,000. Regal Partners Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Alcoa by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Regal Partners Ltd now owns 451,940 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $14,864,000 after purchasing an additional 29,612 shares during the period. Finally, Alphadyne Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Alcoa in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,467,000. Institutional investors own 82.39% of the company’s stock.

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.