Alcoa (NYSE:AA) Hits New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?
by Teresa Graham · The Cerbat GemAlcoa (NYSE:AA – Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $54.75 and last traded at $54.2530, with a volume of 206343 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.77.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of analysts have issued reports on AA shares. Argus set a $45.00 target price on Alcoa in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Alcoa from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Alcoa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Alcoa in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Alcoa from $40.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.15.
Alcoa Stock Performance
The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $42.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.24. The firm has a market cap of $14.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.52, a PEG ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 1.99.
Alcoa (NYSE:AA – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.13. Alcoa had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 8.91%.The company had revenue of $2.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.57 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Alcoa will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current year.
Alcoa Dividend Announcement
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 4th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Alcoa’s payout ratio is currently 9.24%.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alcoa
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in Alcoa by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 22,497 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $740,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alcoa by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,137 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $565,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the period. Lesa Sroufe & Co increased its stake in shares of Alcoa by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lesa Sroufe & Co now owns 75,504 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,483,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Alcoa by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 18,628 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $550,000 after acquiring an additional 354 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alcoa by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,581 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $381,000 after buying an additional 362 shares during the period.
About Alcoa
Alcoa Corporation is a global industry leader in the production and management of aluminum, offering an integrated value chain that spans bauxite mining, alumina refining, primary aluminum smelting and the fabrication of value-added products. The company’s operations are organized into segments that include raw material extraction, chemical processing and the manufacture of metal mill products and engineered solutions.
Alcoa’s product portfolio serves diverse end markets such as aerospace, automotive, packaging, construction, electrical and industrial applications.