Howmet Aerospace (NYSE:HWM) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Howmet Aerospace (NYSE:HWM - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued on Friday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on HWM. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Howmet Aerospace from $118.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Northcoast Research raised shares of Howmet Aerospace from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Howmet Aerospace from $120.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Howmet Aerospace in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Howmet Aerospace from $170.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $150.44.

Howmet Aerospace Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of HWM stock traded up $1.86 on Friday, hitting $190.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,265,086 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,798,266. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.43. Howmet Aerospace has a fifty-two week low of $78.34 and a fifty-two week high of $191.61. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $173.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $144.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 2.30 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Barbara Lou Shultz sold 1,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.17, for a total transaction of $193,962.50. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 23,044 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,575,737.48. The trade was a 5.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO John C. Plant sold 800,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.96, for a total value of $125,568,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 236,544 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $37,127,946.24. This trade represents a 77.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 831,250 shares of company stock worth $130,517,863. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Howmet Aerospace

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Howmet Aerospace during the fourth quarter worth about $1,001,558,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Howmet Aerospace by 21.1% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 24,450,547 shares of the company's stock worth $3,171,970,000 after buying an additional 4,252,401 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Howmet Aerospace during the 1st quarter worth approximately $366,209,000. Winslow Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Howmet Aerospace in the 4th quarter valued at $265,844,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Howmet Aerospace by 15,741.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,328,176 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,723,040,000 after buying an additional 1,319,792 shares in the last quarter. 90.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.