Alcoa Co. (NYSE:AA) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Alcoa Co. (NYSE:AA) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $46.73.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AA shares. StockNews.com raised Alcoa from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. B. Riley raised shares of Alcoa from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $41.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Argus raised shares of Alcoa from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $48.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Alcoa to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 28th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Alcoa from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th.

Alcoa Stock Performance

Shares of AA stock opened at $37.84 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $42.51 and its 200 day moving average is $38.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.78 billion, a P/E ratio of -21.50, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 2.44. Alcoa has a 12 month low of $24.86 and a 12 month high of $47.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The industrial products company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. Alcoa had a negative return on equity of 1.45% and a negative net margin of 2.65%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($1.14) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alcoa will post 0.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alcoa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 29th were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 29th. Alcoa’s payout ratio is currently -22.73%.

Insider Activity at Alcoa

In other Alcoa news, EVP Renato Bacchi sold 23,867 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.29, for a total value of $1,009,335.43. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,423,935.93. The trade was a 29.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alcoa

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its holdings in shares of Alcoa by 41.6% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 313,822 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $12,107,000 after purchasing an additional 92,201 shares during the period. ING Groep NV bought a new position in shares of Alcoa during the third quarter valued at approximately $10,201,000. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lifted its stake in Alcoa by 2.0% in the third quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 1,421,955 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $54,859,000 after acquiring an additional 27,217 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Alcoa by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 628,116 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $24,233,000 after purchasing an additional 36,869 shares during the period. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP boosted its position in Alcoa by 73.0% during the 3rd quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 36,848 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,422,000 after acquiring an additional 15,546 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.39% of the company’s stock.

Alcoa Company Profile

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.