Alcoa (NYSE:AA) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Alcoa from $71.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $50.00 target price (up previously from $45.00) on shares of Alcoa in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Citigroup raised their price target on Alcoa from $42.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Alcoa in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, B. Riley Financial restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alcoa in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.25.

Alcoa Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:AA opened at $60.38 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Alcoa has a 52-week low of $21.53 and a 52-week high of $66.95. The company has a 50 day moving average of $58.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.43. The company has a market capitalization of $15.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.66 and a beta of 1.91.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.31. Alcoa had a net margin of 9.12% and a return on equity of 16.18%. The firm had revenue of ($1,130.00) million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.04 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Alcoa will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alcoa

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Basepoint Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Alcoa in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in shares of Alcoa in the third quarter worth $27,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Alcoa by 52,500.0% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 526 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Alcoa in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Horrell Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Alcoa during the second quarter worth about $30,000.

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.