Citigroup Inc. Acquires 237,403 Shares of Howmet Aerospace Inc. (NYSE:HWM)

Key Points

• Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in Howmet Aerospace Inc. by 42.3%, acquiring an additional 237,403 shares and holding a total of 799,098 shares valued at approximately $103.67 million.
• Analysts have provided positive outlooks for Howmet Aerospace, with several brokerage firms, including Susquehanna and Morgan Stanley, raising their target prices on the stock to $210.00.
• Howmet Aerospace recently announced a dividend increase from $0.10 to $0.12 per share, representing an annual yield of 0.3% and a payout ratio of 11.70%.

Citigroup Inc. raised its position in Howmet Aerospace Inc. (NYSE:HWM - Free Report) by 42.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 799,098 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 237,403 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned 0.20% of Howmet Aerospace worth $103,667,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Howmet Aerospace by 1.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 47,813,262 shares of the company's stock worth $6,202,814,000 after acquiring an additional 695,953 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Howmet Aerospace by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,213,937 shares of the company's stock worth $1,445,210,000 after acquiring an additional 80,972 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Howmet Aerospace by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 10,947,354 shares of the company's stock worth $1,197,315,000 after acquiring an additional 1,026,130 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Howmet Aerospace by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,855,273 shares of the company's stock worth $531,021,000 after acquiring an additional 570,567 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Howmet Aerospace by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,676,908 shares of the company's stock worth $402,143,000 after acquiring an additional 349,384 shares during the last quarter. 90.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on HWM. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Howmet Aerospace from $170.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Howmet Aerospace from $170.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Benchmark boosted their target price on shares of Howmet Aerospace from $85.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $190.00 target price (up from $140.00) on shares of Howmet Aerospace in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Vertical Research reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Howmet Aerospace in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Howmet Aerospace currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $172.13.

Howmet Aerospace Stock Down 0.5%

Howmet Aerospace stock opened at $180.67 on Friday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $179.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $151.25. Howmet Aerospace Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $90.71 and a fifty-two week high of $193.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.83, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

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

Howmet Aerospace Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Howmet Aerospace

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

Howmet Aerospace Profile

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.

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