Kaiser Aluminum (NASDAQ:KALU) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Kaiser Aluminum Corporation (NASDAQ:KALU) saw an uptick in trading volume on Friday after Wall Street Zen upgraded the stock from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating. 502,898 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 276% from the previous session’s volume of 133,704 shares.The stock last traded at $95.77 and had previously closed at $93.12.

KALU has been the topic of several other reports. Zacks Research cut Kaiser Aluminum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Kaiser Aluminum from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Kaiser Aluminum from $64.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Kaiser Aluminum in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kaiser Aluminum presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $88.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kaiser Aluminum by 475.0% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 414 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Kaiser Aluminum in the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in Kaiser Aluminum by 130.9% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 605 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Kaiser Aluminum by 136.3% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,616 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $129,000 after purchasing an additional 932 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Kaiser Aluminum by 50.3% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,748 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $140,000 after purchasing an additional 585 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Kaiser Aluminum Trading Up 2.9%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 2.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market cap of $1.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.32 and a beta of 1.49. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $78.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.17.

Kaiser Aluminum (NASDAQ:KALU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 2nd. The industrial products company reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $765.40 million during the quarter. Kaiser Aluminum had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 10.67%. As a group, research analysts predict that Kaiser Aluminum Corporation will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kaiser Aluminum Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 24th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 24th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. Kaiser Aluminum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.70%.

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. It offers rolled, extruded, and drawn aluminum products used for aerospace and defense, aluminum beverage and food packaging, automotive and general engineering products.