Kaiser Aluminum (NASDAQ:KALU) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Kaiser Aluminum (NASDAQ:KALU) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on KALU. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Kaiser Aluminum from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Kaiser Aluminum from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Kaiser Aluminum from $82.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Kaiser Aluminum from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.67.

Kaiser Aluminum Price Performance

KALU stock opened at $90.53 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $79.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.79. Kaiser Aluminum has a 12-month low of $46.81 and a 12-month high of $97.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.37 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.48, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

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

Kaiser Aluminum Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 24th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 24th. Kaiser Aluminum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.70%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KALU. Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new position in shares of Kaiser Aluminum in the first quarter worth approximately $369,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kaiser Aluminum by 2.3% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 89,754 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,441,000 after buying an additional 1,984 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR lifted its stake in shares of Kaiser Aluminum by 15.7% in the first quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 51,846 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,143,000 after buying an additional 7,016 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of Kaiser Aluminum in the first quarter worth approximately $1,598,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Kaiser Aluminum by 7.3% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 4,217 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

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.