Alcoa (NYSE:AA) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.19 EPS

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The industrial products company reported ($0.81) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.62) by ($0.19), Briefing.com reports. Alcoa had a negative net margin of 6.17% and a negative return on equity of 6.56%. The firm had revenue of $2.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.55 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.23) EPS. The company’s revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Alcoa Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE AA opened at $35.57 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $30.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.97. Alcoa has a 52 week low of $23.07 and a 52 week high of $42.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.74.

Alcoa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 4th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.12%. Alcoa’s dividend payout ratio is currently -10.96%.

Insider Activity at Alcoa

In other news, EVP Tammi A. Jones sold 26,468 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.78, for a total value of $814,685.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 41,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,267,089.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Institutional Trading of Alcoa

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. FIL Ltd bought a new position in shares of Alcoa during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,408,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Alcoa by 1,290.3% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,034,031 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $35,158,000 after purchasing an additional 959,655 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in shares of Alcoa by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 74,451 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,531,000 after purchasing an additional 2,035 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV bought a new position in shares of Alcoa during the fourth quarter worth approximately $281,000. Finally, Employees Retirement System of Texas bought a new position in shares of Alcoa during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,828,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Alcoa from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Alcoa from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Alcoa from $27.00 to $29.50 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Alcoa from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on Alcoa in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $29.00 price objective for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.88.

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.