Wall Street Zen Downgrades Kaiser Aluminum (NASDAQ:KALU) to Hold

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

KALU has been the subject of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Kaiser Aluminum from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Wolfe Research raised Kaiser Aluminum from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Benchmark cut their target price on Kaiser Aluminum from $100.00 to $74.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st.

Kaiser Aluminum Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KALU traded up $0.10 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $73.14. The company had a trading volume of 97,202 shares, compared to its average volume of 138,527. Kaiser Aluminum has a twelve month low of $46.81 and a twelve month high of $100.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 2.44 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market cap of $1.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.48 and a beta of 1.40. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $62.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.72.

Kaiser Aluminum (NASDAQ:KALU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.91. Kaiser Aluminum had a return on equity of 6.25% and a net margin of 1.55%. The firm had revenue of $777.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $788.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.02 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Kaiser Aluminum will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Kaiser Aluminum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 25th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 25th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.21%. Kaiser Aluminum's dividend payout ratio is currently 115.36%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KALU. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its position in shares of Kaiser Aluminum by 497.2% during the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 651 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 542 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp purchased a new position in shares of Kaiser Aluminum during the fourth quarter worth $52,000. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Kaiser Aluminum by 93.0% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 851 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 410 shares during the period. Aquatic Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Kaiser Aluminum by 87.1% in the fourth 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 period. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new position in Kaiser Aluminum in the fourth quarter valued at $121,000. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Kaiser Aluminum

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.