Wells Fargo & Company Begins Coverage on Alcoa (NYSE:AA)

Key Points

• Alcoa has been upgraded by Wells Fargo & Company from an "underweight" rating to a "strong-buy" rating, indicating increased confidence in the stock's performance.
• Analysts have varied opinions on Alcoa, with one analyst maintaining a strong buy rating, six giving buy ratings, and five holding, while one analyst issued a sell rating.
• The company recently reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings with an EPS of $0.39, surpassing the consensus estimate of $0.29, showcasing business resilience and growth.

Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Alcoa (NYSE:AA - Get Free Report) in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage set an "overweight" rating on the industrial products company's stock.

AA has been the subject of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Alcoa from $38.00 to $42.50 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Alcoa from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Alcoa from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Wednesday. B. Riley lifted their target price on shares of Alcoa from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Alcoa from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, June 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.04.

Alcoa Stock Down 0.0%

AA opened at $37.05 on Tuesday. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $31.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.40. Alcoa has a 52 week low of $21.53 and a 52 week high of $47.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market cap of $9.59 billion, a PE ratio of 9.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 2.20.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The industrial products company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $3.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.96 billion. Alcoa had a return on equity of 19.18% and a net margin of 7.86%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.16 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Alcoa will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alcoa

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Alcoa during the second quarter worth about $97,933,000. L1 Capital Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in Alcoa by 178.8% in the 2nd quarter. L1 Capital Pty Ltd now owns 4,814,342 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $142,071,000 after buying an additional 3,087,298 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Alcoa by 33.9% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,803,086 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $207,490,000 after buying an additional 1,721,222 shares during the period. Drummond Knight Asset Management Pty Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Alcoa in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,893,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Alcoa during the second quarter valued at approximately $44,151,000.

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.