Alcoa (NYSE:AA) Hits New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Shares of Alcoa (NYSE:AA) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $72.24 and last traded at $70.9060, with a volume of 4134057 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $71.53.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on Alcoa from $48.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Alcoa in a report on Monday, December 29th. B. Riley Financial reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alcoa in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Alcoa from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $50.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Alcoa from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alcoa presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.45.

Alcoa Stock Down 0.9%

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company has a market capitalization of $18.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.04 and a beta of 1.70.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.31. Alcoa had a return on equity of 16.19% and a net margin of 9.12%.The company had revenue of $6.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.04 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Alcoa will post 4.43 EPS for the current year.

Alcoa Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 10th. Alcoa’s payout ratio is 9.05%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Basepoint Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alcoa during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alcoa by 52,500.0% during the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 526 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 525 shares during the period. CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Alcoa by 74.1% during the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 557 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 237 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its position in shares of Alcoa by 5,281.8% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 592 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 581 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its position in shares of Alcoa by 96.0% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 694 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 340 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.39% of the company’s stock.

Alcoa Company Profile

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.