Argent Trust Co Makes New $213,000 Investment in Howmet Aerospace Inc. (NYSE:HWM)

Key Points

• Argent Trust Co acquired 1,644 shares of Howmet Aerospace valued at approximately $213,000 during the first quarter, marking a new position in the company.
• Howmet Aerospace's stock has seen significant activity among institutional investors, with 90.46% of its stock owned by hedge funds and other institutions.
• Analyst ratings for Howmet Aerospace have shifted positively, with four analysts rating it as "hold" and fifteen as "buy," reflecting strong market sentiment and an average target price of **$169.79**.

Argent Trust Co acquired a new position in Howmet Aerospace Inc. (NYSE:HWM - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,644 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of HWM. CVA Family Office LLC raised its stake in Howmet Aerospace by 15.7% during the first quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 605 shares of the company's stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Mount Lucas Management LP raised its stake in shares of Howmet Aerospace by 3.2% in the first quarter. Mount Lucas Management LP now owns 2,661 shares of the company's stock valued at $345,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in shares of Howmet Aerospace by 4.9% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,971 shares of the company's stock valued at $256,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the period. Nilsine Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Howmet Aerospace by 3.9% in the first quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 2,461 shares of the company's stock valued at $319,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. Finally, Argentarii LLC raised its stake in shares of Howmet Aerospace by 1.1% in the first quarter. Argentarii LLC now owns 9,054 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,175,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. 90.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Howmet Aerospace news, EVP Neil Edward Marchuk sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.53, for a total transaction of $4,755,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 131,859 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,903,607.27. This represents a 18.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO John C. Plant sold 800,000 shares of Howmet Aerospace stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.96, for a total transaction of $125,568,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 236,544 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,127,946.24. The trade was a 77.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.04% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on HWM. BTIG Research set a $205.00 price target on Howmet Aerospace and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Howmet Aerospace from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Benchmark boosted their target price on shares of Howmet Aerospace from $85.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Howmet Aerospace from $120.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Howmet Aerospace from $150.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $172.13.

Howmet Aerospace Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of HWM stock traded down $0.91 on Friday, reaching $180.67. 1,588,243 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,884,757. Howmet Aerospace Inc. has a twelve month low of $90.71 and a twelve month high of $193.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $72.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.39, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.48. The business's 50 day moving average price is $179.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $150.71.

Howmet Aerospace (NYSE:HWM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.04. Howmet Aerospace had a net margin of 18.09% and a return on equity of 28.17%. The firm had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.99 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.67 EPS. The company's revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Howmet Aerospace Inc. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Howmet Aerospace Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 8th. This is an increase from Howmet Aerospace's previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Howmet Aerospace's dividend payout ratio is presently 11.70%.

About Howmet Aerospace

Howmet Aerospace Inc provides advanced engineered solutions for the aerospace and transportation industries in the United States, Japan, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Italy, Canada, Poland, China, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Engine Products, Fastening Systems, Engineered Structures, and Forged Wheels.