Alcoa (NYSE:AA) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Alcoa has an average analyst recommendation of Hold from 12 analysts (1 sell, 7 hold, 4 buy) with a mean 12‑month price target of $50.45, although several recent upgrades and price‑target hikes (UBS to $70, JPMorgan to $68, Wall Street Zen to buy) show diverging views.
• Institutional investors own 82.39% of the stock, with large recent activity including Mirabella Financial’s massive addition (~39.8M shares), BNY Mellon’s 211.7% increase, and new sizeable stakes from Castle Hook and Maple Rock.
• Shares opened at $71.49 (near the 12‑month high of $72.17), market cap is $18.86B with a P/E of 16.17; Alcoa recently beat quarterly EPS estimates ($1.26 vs $0.95) and pays a modest 0.6% dividend.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the twelve analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $50.4545.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group raised 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. B. Riley Financial reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alcoa in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised Alcoa from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Alcoa from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $50.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $68.00 price objective on Alcoa in a research note on Thursday, March 12th.

Institutional Trading of Alcoa

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mirabella Financial Services LLP raised its position in shares of Alcoa by 12,233.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP now owns 40,082,462 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,318,312,000 after purchasing an additional 39,757,462 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Alcoa by 211.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,254,017 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $332,338,000 after buying an additional 4,247,559 shares during the period. Castle Hook Partners LP purchased a new stake in Alcoa in the 4th quarter worth $210,874,000. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in Alcoa in the 4th quarter worth $173,412,000. Finally, L1 Capital Pty Ltd raised its holdings in Alcoa by 178.8% during the second quarter. L1 Capital Pty Ltd now owns 4,814,342 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $142,071,000 after acquiring an additional 3,087,298 shares during the period. 82.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alcoa Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AA opened at $71.49 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $61.53 and a 200 day moving average of $50.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.17 and a beta of 1.70. Alcoa has a 12-month low of $21.53 and a 12-month high of $72.17.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $6.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.28 billion. Alcoa had a net margin of 9.12% and a return on equity of 16.19%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.04 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alcoa will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Alcoa Dividend Announcement

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

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.

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