Alcoa (NYSE:AA) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Alcoa (NYSE:AA) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning.

AA has been the subject of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Alcoa from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $53.00 price objective (down from $79.00) on shares of Alcoa in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Alcoa from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Alcoa from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Argus lowered their target price on Alcoa from $73.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.09.

Alcoa Stock Up 0.7%

AA stock opened at $45.31 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $11.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $57.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.92. Alcoa has a 12 month low of $28.11 and a 12 month high of $84.38.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 16th. The industrial products company reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.25 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $3.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.99 billion. Alcoa had a return on equity of 18.90% and a net margin of 9.48%.During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.39 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Alcoa will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Alcoa Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 11th. Alcoa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.23%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AA. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Alcoa by 211.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,254,017 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $332,338,000 after buying an additional 4,247,559 shares in the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP purchased a new position in Alcoa during the 4th quarter valued at about $210,874,000. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Alcoa during the 4th quarter valued at about $173,412,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Alcoa by 153.4% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,134,425 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $219,703,000 after acquiring an additional 2,503,132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Alcoa by 247.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,415,697 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $128,370,000 after acquiring an additional 1,721,280 shares during the last quarter.

Alcoa Company Profile

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.