Alcoa (NYSE:AA) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of Alcoa (NYSE:AA) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on AA. Weiss Ratings raised Alcoa from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $68.00 target price on Alcoa in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Alcoa from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. UBS Group upped their target price on Alcoa from $48.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Alcoa from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.27.

Alcoa Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:AA opened at $68.42 on Tuesday. Alcoa has a 12-month low of $25.83 and a 12-month high of $75.70. The company has a market capitalization of $18.05 billion, a PE ratio of 17.32 and a beta of 1.51. The business has a 50 day moving average of $65.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The industrial products company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by ($0.20). The company had revenue of $3.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. Alcoa had a net margin of 8.27% and a return on equity of 12.57%. The company’s revenue was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.15 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Alcoa will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Alcoa Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 19th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Alcoa’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.13%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alcoa

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Alcoa by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 579,259 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,422,000 after purchasing an additional 48,649 shares during the period. Lido Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alcoa by 39.9% during the 1st quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 28,734 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,906,000 after purchasing an additional 8,196 shares during the period. Globeflex Capital L P purchased a new position in shares of Alcoa during the 1st quarter worth $6,902,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of Alcoa during the 1st quarter worth $625,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Alcoa by 196.1% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 95,609 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,342,000 after purchasing an additional 63,319 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.