Alcoa (NYSE:AA) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Alcoa (NYSE:AA) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $54.36 and last traded at $53.6750, with a volume of 5555194 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.72.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AA has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Alcoa from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Alcoa from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. HSBC upped their target price on shares of Alcoa from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Alcoa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Alcoa from $42.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.15.

Alcoa Stock Down 0.2%

The stock has a market capitalization of $13.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 1.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $41.42 and its 200-day moving average is $34.80.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.13. The company had revenue of $2.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.03 billion. Alcoa had a net margin of 8.91% and a return on equity of 15.85%. Alcoa’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.57 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alcoa will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Alcoa Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 4th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Alcoa’s payout ratio is presently 9.24%.

Institutional Trading of Alcoa

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AA. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new position in Alcoa during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Alcoa in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of Alcoa by 1,096.0% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 897 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 822 shares during the last quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alcoa during the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alcoa during the third quarter worth approximately $33,000.

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.