Kaiser Aluminum (NASDAQ:KALU) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to "Buy" Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Kaiser Aluminum (NASDAQ:KALU - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on KALU. Benchmark reduced their price target on Kaiser Aluminum from $100.00 to $74.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Kaiser Aluminum from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Kaiser Aluminum from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th.

Kaiser Aluminum Stock Up 0.5%

Kaiser Aluminum stock traded up $0.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $76.62. The company had a trading volume of 87,551 shares, compared to its average volume of 136,992. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $67.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.24. Kaiser Aluminum has a 12 month low of $46.81 and a 12 month high of $100.07. The company has a market capitalization of $1.24 billion, a PE ratio of 28.70 and a beta of 1.43.

Kaiser Aluminum (NASDAQ:KALU - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.91. The firm had revenue of $777.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $788.00 million. Kaiser Aluminum had a return on equity of 7.02% and a net margin of 1.43%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.02 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kaiser Aluminum will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kaiser Aluminum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, April 25th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 25th. Kaiser Aluminum's dividend payout ratio is currently 115.36%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kaiser Aluminum

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of KALU. AlphaQuest LLC raised its position in Kaiser Aluminum by 497.2% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 651 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 542 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp purchased a new stake in Kaiser Aluminum during the 4th quarter valued at about $52,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Kaiser Aluminum by 87.1% during the 4th quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 1,684 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 784 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new stake in Kaiser Aluminum during the 4th quarter valued at about $121,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in Kaiser Aluminum by 325.0% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,768 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $124,000 after purchasing an additional 1,352 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kaiser Aluminum Company Profile

Kaiser Aluminum Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in manufacture and sale of semi-fabricated specialty aluminum mill products in the United States and internationally. It offers rolled, extruded, and drawn aluminum products used for aerospace and defense, aluminum beverage and food packaging, automotive and general engineering products.