Alcoa (NYSE:AA) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Alcoa Co. (NYSE:AA) shares gapped down before the market opened on Thursday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $53.00 to $47.00. The stock had previously closed at $33.34, but opened at $32.33. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Alcoa shares last traded at $32.57, with a volume of 859,648 shares changing hands.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Alcoa from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Alcoa from $55.00 to $51.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. B. Riley raised shares of Alcoa to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Alcoa to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, HC Wainwright lifted their price target on Alcoa to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.92.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alcoa

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Alcoa by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,979,129 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $981,491,000 after purchasing an additional 165,420 shares in the last quarter. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC boosted its stake in Alcoa by 4,023.0% during the third quarter. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC now owns 10,795,880 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $416,505,000 after buying an additional 10,534,036 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Alcoa by 23.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,563,645 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $368,965,000 after buying an additional 1,805,915 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Alcoa during the fourth quarter worth about $259,273,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Alcoa by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,232,766 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $159,966,000 after acquiring an additional 39,022 shares during the last quarter. 82.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alcoa Trading Down 4.4 %

The stock has a market cap of $7.92 billion, a PE ratio of -191.15, a PEG ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 2.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.06.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.13. Alcoa had a net margin of 0.50% and a return on equity of 5.54%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Alcoa Co. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alcoa Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. Alcoa’s dividend payout ratio is currently -250.00%.

About Alcoa

Alcoa Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, produces and sells bauxite, alumina, and aluminum products in the United States, Spain, Australia, Iceland, Norway, Brazil, Canada, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Alumina and Aluminum. It engages in bauxite mining operations; and processes bauxite into alumina and sells it to customers who process it into industrial chemical products, as well as aluminum smelting and casting businesses.