Vista Investment Partners II LLC Acquires New Stake in Howmet Aerospace Inc. (NYSE:HWM)

Vista Investment Partners II LLC acquired a new position in shares of Howmet Aerospace Inc. (NYSE:HWM - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,583 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Howmet Aerospace during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Howmet Aerospace by 208.1% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 228 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Howmet Aerospace during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Howmet Aerospace during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of Howmet Aerospace during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. 90.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Howmet Aerospace news, EVP Neil Edward Marchuk sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.53, for a total value of $4,755,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 131,859 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,903,607.27. This trade represents a 18.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Barbara Lou Shultz sold 1,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.17, for a total transaction of $193,962.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 23,044 shares in the company, valued at $3,575,737.48. The trade was a 5.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 831,250 shares of company stock valued at $130,517,863 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.04% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Howmet Aerospace from $118.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Benchmark increased their price target on Howmet Aerospace from $85.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Northcoast Research upgraded Howmet Aerospace from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. BTIG Research reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Howmet Aerospace in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Howmet Aerospace from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $142.13.

Howmet Aerospace Stock Up 4.6%

Shares of HWM stock traded up $8.22 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $185.07. 23,826,568 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,779,244. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 2.30. Howmet Aerospace Inc. has a one year low of $76.85 and a one year high of $185.52. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $161.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $136.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.44.

Howmet Aerospace (NYSE:HWM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.09. Howmet Aerospace had a net margin of 16.64% and a return on equity of 27.25%. The business had revenue of $1.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Howmet Aerospace Inc. will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Howmet Aerospace Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.22%. Howmet Aerospace's dividend payout ratio is currently 13.03%.

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.