Kaiser Aluminum Co. (NASDAQ:KALU) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Kaiser Aluminum Co. (NASDAQ:KALU) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 436,500 shares, a decline of 8.0% from the August 15th total of 474,600 shares. Currently, 2.8% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 85,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.1 days.

Kaiser Aluminum Trading Down 2.0 %

NASDAQ KALU opened at $75.79 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 120.30 and a beta of 1.33. Kaiser Aluminum has a one year low of $56.79 and a one year high of $97.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 1.41. The business’s fifty day moving average is $76.77 and its 200-day moving average is $70.91.

Kaiser Aluminum (NASDAQ:KALU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 26th. The industrial products company reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.80. The business had revenue of $814.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $797.21 million. Kaiser Aluminum had a return on equity of 1.99% and a net margin of 0.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.87) EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Kaiser Aluminum will post 2.59 EPS for the current year.

Kaiser Aluminum Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 25th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 24th. Kaiser Aluminum’s payout ratio is presently 488.89%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KALU. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Kaiser Aluminum from $69.00 to $70.00 in a report on Friday, July 14th. 22nd Century Group reaffirmed a “reiterates” rating on shares of Kaiser Aluminum in a research report on Thursday, June 15th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kaiser Aluminum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Kaiser Aluminum presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $72.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kaiser Aluminum

In other Kaiser Aluminum news, SVP Ray Parkinson sold 4,727 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.75, for a total transaction of $376,978.25. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,432 shares in the company, valued at $512,952. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KALU. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in Kaiser Aluminum in the 4th quarter worth approximately $453,000. Roubaix Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Kaiser Aluminum in the first quarter worth $2,751,000. Ibex Investors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kaiser Aluminum in the first quarter worth $537,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Kaiser Aluminum by 15.9% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 249,460 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $18,617,000 after acquiring an additional 34,256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kaiser Aluminum in the fourth quarter worth $833,000.

Kaiser Aluminum Company Profile

Kaiser Aluminum Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in manufacture and sale of semi-fabricated specialty aluminum mill products in the United States and internationally. The company offers rolled, extruded, and drawn aluminum products used for aerospace and defense, aluminum beverage and food packaging, automotive and general engineering products.