Alcoa Co. (NYSE:AA) Short Interest Down 6.5% in January

Alcoa Co. (NYSE:AA) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,500,000 shares, a decline of 6.5% from the January 15th total of 9,090,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,790,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on AA shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Alcoa from $55.00 to $51.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. B. Riley raised shares of Alcoa to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Alcoa from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Alcoa to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Alcoa from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.55.

Alcoa Stock Performance

Shares of AA stock opened at $36.99 on Wednesday. Alcoa has a 12 month low of $24.86 and a 12 month high of $47.77. The stock has a market cap of $9.56 billion, a PE ratio of -231.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 2.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $37.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.78.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.13. Alcoa had a net margin of 0.50% and a return on equity of 5.54%. On average, equities analysts expect that Alcoa will post 4.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alcoa

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of AA. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Alcoa by 133.7% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,533 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 4,882 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of Alcoa by 42.9% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 3,090 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $119,000 after purchasing an additional 928 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its position in shares of Alcoa by 33.4% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 31,817 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,227,000 after purchasing an additional 7,964 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its position in shares of Alcoa by 70.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 11,836 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $457,000 after purchasing an additional 4,909 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trust Point Inc. raised its position in shares of Alcoa by 23.7% in the 3rd quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 6,884 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 1,317 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.39% of the company’s stock.

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.