Alcoa (NYSE:AA) Trading Up 9.5% – Here’s What Happened

Alcoa (NYSE:AA)’s share price was up 9.5% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $72.11 and last traded at $72.5770. Approximately 2,460,143 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 62% from the average daily volume of 6,541,365 shares. The stock had previously closed at $66.27.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered shares of Alcoa from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Alcoa from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Alcoa from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $64.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Alcoa from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Argus set a $73.00 price target on shares of Alcoa in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alcoa currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.60.

Alcoa Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $65.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.42. The company has a market capitalization of $18.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.08 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last announced its 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). Alcoa had a return on equity of 12.57% and a net margin of 8.27%.The company had revenue of $3.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.15 earnings per share. Alcoa’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alcoa will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Alcoa Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alcoa

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of AA. Mirabella Financial Services LLP lifted its position in shares of Alcoa by 12,233.1% during the third quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP now owns 40,082,462 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,318,312,000 after purchasing an additional 39,757,462 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Alcoa by 211.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,254,017 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $332,338,000 after purchasing an additional 4,247,559 shares in the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Alcoa during the fourth quarter worth approximately $210,874,000. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alcoa during the fourth quarter worth approximately $173,412,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Alcoa by 153.4% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,134,425 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $219,703,000 after purchasing an additional 2,503,132 shares in the last quarter.

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.