Howmet Aerospace Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:HWM)

Howmet Aerospace Inc. (NYSE:HWM) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock traders purchased 3,553 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 47% compared to the typical volume of 2,416 put options.

Howmet Aerospace Trading Down 3.3%

Shares of Howmet Aerospace stock opened at $217.58 on Friday. Howmet Aerospace has a fifty-two week low of $105.04 and a fifty-two week high of $226.87. The business’s fifty day moving average is $206.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $194.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market cap of $87.48 billion, a PE ratio of 61.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.29.

Howmet Aerospace (NYSE:HWM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.04. Howmet Aerospace had a return on equity of 29.21% and a net margin of 18.18%.The firm had revenue of $2.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.81 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Howmet Aerospace has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.660-3.680 EPS and its Q4 2025 guidance at 0.940-0.960 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Howmet Aerospace will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Howmet Aerospace Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 25th. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 6th. Howmet Aerospace’s payout ratio is presently 13.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on HWM shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Howmet Aerospace from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $247.00 price objective on shares of Howmet Aerospace in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Howmet Aerospace in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Industrial Alliance Securities set a $240.00 target price on Howmet Aerospace in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Howmet Aerospace in a research report on Friday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $224.53.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Howmet Aerospace

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HWM. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Howmet Aerospace by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,139,989 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,642,740,000 after buying an additional 664,595 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Howmet Aerospace by 30.1% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 31,806,624 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,920,181,000 after purchasing an additional 7,356,077 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Howmet Aerospace by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,964,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,525,206,000 after purchasing an additional 278,587 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Howmet Aerospace by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,938,815 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,032,221,000 after purchasing an additional 719,888 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Howmet Aerospace by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 10,877,771 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,134,545,000 after purchasing an additional 255,419 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.46% of the company’s stock.

About Howmet Aerospace

Howmet Aerospace Inc is an industrial technology company that designs, manufactures and repairs engineered metal products for the aerospace, transportation and industrial markets. Its product portfolio includes precision castings and forgings, engineered fasteners, seamless rolled rings, and complex components for turbine engines, airframes and industrial gas turbines. The company also provides aftermarket services such as component repair, overhaul and parts distribution to support the operating fleet of commercial and military customers.

Howmet serves a global customer base of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and aftermarket operators, with manufacturing, service and distribution facilities across North America, Europe and Asia.