Empowered Funds LLC Makes New Investment in Alcoa $AA

Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in Alcoa (NYSE:AA) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 199,349 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,394,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AA. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alcoa during the 2nd quarter worth $228,000. Caitlin John LLC purchased a new position in Alcoa in the second quarter valued at $135,000. Impala Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alcoa in the second quarter valued at $7,039,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in Alcoa in the second quarter valued at $3,912,000. Finally, Capstone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Alcoa during the 2nd quarter worth about $10,498,000.

Alcoa Stock Down 1.6%

Alcoa stock opened at $50.35 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.36, a PEG ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.53. Alcoa has a fifty-two week low of $30.21 and a fifty-two week high of $84.38. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.97.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The industrial products company reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.25 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $3.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.99 billion. Alcoa had a return on equity of 18.90% and a net margin of 9.48%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.39 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Alcoa will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Alcoa Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Alcoa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AA shares. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Alcoa from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Alcoa from $57.00 to $51.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Alcoa from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Alcoa from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Alcoa from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.09.

Insider Activity at Alcoa

In other news, EVP Tammi A. Jones sold 15,628 shares of Alcoa stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.60, for a total value of $790,776.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,014,841.40. The trade was a 28.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Alcoa Company Profile

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.