Alcoa (NYSE:AA) Lifted to Buy at UBS Group

UBS Group upgraded shares of Alcoa (NYSE:AA) from a sell rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $38.00 price target on the industrial products company’s stock, up from their previous price target of $32.00.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. StockNews.com raised Alcoa from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Wolfe Research upgraded Alcoa from an underperform rating to a peer perform rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Alcoa from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Alcoa from $46.00 to $43.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Alcoa from $32.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $39.40.

Alcoa Stock Up 3.2 %

Shares of NYSE AA opened at $32.10 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $36.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.55. Alcoa has a 52-week low of $23.07 and a 52-week high of $45.48. The company has a market capitalization of $5.76 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.54 and a beta of 2.45.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The industrial products company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.05. Alcoa had a negative return on equity of 7.29% and a negative net margin of 5.14%. The firm had revenue of $2.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.84 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.35) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Alcoa will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Alcoa Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 12th. Alcoa’s payout ratio is -10.64%.

Institutional Trading of Alcoa

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Alcoa by 161.7% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,650 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $362,000 after purchasing an additional 6,580 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Alcoa during the 4th quarter valued at $32,400,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alcoa during the fourth quarter worth $424,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new position in shares of Alcoa in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Alcoa in the fourth quarter valued at $1,703,000. 82.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Alcoa

Alcoa Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, produces and sells bauxite, alumina, and aluminum products in the United States, Spain, Australia, Iceland, Norway, Brazil, Canada, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Alumina and Aluminum. It engages in bauxite mining operations; and processes bauxite into alumina and sells it to customers who process it into industrial chemical products, as well as aluminum smelting and casting businesses.