KBC Group NV Increases Stock Holdings in Alcoa Co. (NYSE:AA)

KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Alcoa Co. (NYSE:AA) by 70.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,135 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,598 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Alcoa were worth $421,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AA. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC raised its stake in Alcoa by 4,023.0% in the third quarter. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC now owns 10,795,880 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $416,505,000 after buying an additional 10,534,036 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Alcoa by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,563,645 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $368,965,000 after acquiring an additional 1,805,915 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Alcoa by 42.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,193,744 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $161,838,000 after purchasing an additional 1,239,479 shares during the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP grew its position in shares of Alcoa by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 2,313,806 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $89,267,000 after buying an additional 34,878 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alcoa by 32.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,888,590 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $72,862,000 after purchasing an additional 467,986 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on AA shares. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Alcoa from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. 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. B. Riley upgraded shares of Alcoa to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Alcoa from $55.00 to $51.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Alcoa from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.55.

Alcoa Price Performance

NYSE AA opened at $35.36 on Monday. Alcoa Co. has a 12 month low of $24.86 and a 12 month high of $47.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.13 billion, a PE ratio of -220.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 2.47. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.04 earnings per share (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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Alcoa Co. will post 4.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.