Alcoa (NYSE:AA) Raised to Hold at Zacks Research

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) was upgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Zacks reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Alcoa from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. B. Riley Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Alcoa from $92.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Alcoa from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 17th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Alcoa from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on Alcoa from $57.00 to $51.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.09.

Alcoa Stock Down 0.9%

AA stock opened at $46.51 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $48.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.53. Alcoa has a fifty-two week low of $30.81 and a fifty-two week high of $84.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.57, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.63.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The industrial products company reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.25 by ($0.13). Alcoa had a net margin of 9.48% and a return on equity of 18.90%. The firm had revenue of $3.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.99 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.39 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Alcoa will post 6.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Alcoa

In related news, EVP Renato Bacchi sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.02, for a total value of $35,714.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 74,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,822,928.60. This trade represents a 0.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Tammi A. Jones sold 15,628 shares of Alcoa stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.60, for a total transaction of $790,776.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,819 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,841.40. This represents a 28.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alcoa

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alcoa during the second quarter worth about $1,528,523,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alcoa by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,655,655 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $389,621,000 after purchasing an additional 349,426 shares during the last quarter. 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 valued at $332,338,000 after purchasing an additional 4,247,559 shares during the period. Castle Hook Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Alcoa in the 4th quarter valued at about $210,874,000. Finally, Amundi grew its stake in Alcoa by 47.8% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 2,009,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $133,258,000 after buying an additional 649,693 shares during the last quarter.

About Alcoa

Alcoa Corporation (NYSE:AA) is a global producer of bauxite, alumina and aluminum. Its operations span the aluminum value chain, including bauxite mining, alumina refining, aluminum smelting, casting and the production of select value-added aluminum products. The company serves customers in industries such as transportation, aerospace, construction, packaging, consumer products and energy.

Founded in 1888 as the Pittsburgh Reduction Company, Alcoa played a major role in developing the commercial aluminum industry and adopted the Alcoa name in 1907.