Howmet Aerospace (NYSE:HWM) Shares Down 7.5% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Howmet Aerospace's shares fell 7.5% during trading on Thursday, closing at $177.75, significantly lower than a previous close of $192.14.
• A recent earnings report revealed a quarterly EPS of $0.91, surpassing analysts' expectations of $0.87, with revenue reaching $2.05 billion.
• The company recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.10 to $0.12 per share, effective August 25th, reflecting a positive change in its shareholder returns.

Shares of Howmet Aerospace Inc. (NYSE:HWM - Get Free Report) traded down 7.5% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $178.05 and last traded at $177.75. 1,417,382 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 53% from the average session volume of 3,030,364 shares. The stock had previously closed at $192.14.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Benchmark raised 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. BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Howmet Aerospace in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Vertical Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Howmet Aerospace in a research note on Thursday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Howmet Aerospace from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Howmet Aerospace in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $150.44.

Howmet Aerospace Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 2.30. The company's fifty day moving average price is $177.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $148.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.43.

Howmet Aerospace (NYSE:HWM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.99 billion. Howmet Aerospace had a net margin of 16.64% and a return on equity of 27.25%. Howmet Aerospace's revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.67 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Howmet Aerospace Inc. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Howmet Aerospace Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This is a positive change from Howmet Aerospace's previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Howmet Aerospace's payout ratio is presently 13.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Barbara Lou Shultz sold 1,250 shares of the business'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 value of $193,962.50. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 23,044 shares in the company, valued at $3,575,737.48. The trade was a 5.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Neil Edward Marchuk sold 30,000 shares of the business'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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 131,859 shares in the company, valued at $20,903,607.27. The trade was a 18.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 831,250 shares of company stock worth $130,517,863. 1.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Howmet Aerospace

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HWM. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Howmet Aerospace by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,548 shares of the company's stock valued at $279,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Howmet Aerospace by 267.5% during the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 463 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Howmet Aerospace by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 38,132 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,170,000 after acquiring an additional 2,806 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Howmet Aerospace by 236.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,816 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,074,000 after acquiring an additional 6,900 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Howmet Aerospace by 208.1% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 228 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the period. 90.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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