Alcoa (NYSE:AA) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Alcoa Co. (NYSE:AA) shares gapped down prior to trading on Thursday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $53.00 to $47.00. The stock had previously closed at $33.34, but opened at $32.33. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Alcoa shares last traded at $32.57, with a volume of 859,648 shares traded.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on AA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target 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. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Alcoa to $43.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. B. Riley raised Alcoa to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. HC Wainwright increased their price objective on Alcoa to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Alcoa to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.92.

Institutional Trading of Alcoa

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its holdings in Alcoa by 41.6% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 313,822 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $12,107,000 after buying an additional 92,201 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in 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 buying an additional 36,869 shares during the last quarter. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC lifted its stake in Alcoa by 4,023.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC now owns 10,795,880 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $416,505,000 after acquiring an additional 10,534,036 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alcoa by 42.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,193,744 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $161,838,000 after acquiring an additional 1,239,479 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Impala Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Alcoa during the third quarter valued at approximately $6,366,000. 82.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alcoa Stock Performance

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.06. The firm has a market cap of $7.92 billion, a P/E ratio of -191.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 2.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.45.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 5.54% and a net margin of 0.50%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Alcoa Co. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Alcoa Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. Alcoa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -250.00%.

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.