Kaiser Aluminum (NASDAQ:KALU) Shares Up 3.5% After Analyst Upgrade

Kaiser Aluminum Co. (NASDAQ:KALU - Get Free Report)'s share price was up 3.5% during trading on Monday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $62.00 to $64.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Kaiser Aluminum traded as high as $64.40 and last traded at $62.81. Approximately 76,241 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 44% from the average daily volume of 137,142 shares. The stock had previously closed at $60.66.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Benchmark reduced their price objective 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. Wolfe Research raised shares of Kaiser Aluminum from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Kaiser Aluminum from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 18th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of KALU. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Kaiser Aluminum by 101.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 27,454 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,991,000 after acquiring an additional 13,813 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Kaiser Aluminum during the third quarter worth about $217,000. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Kaiser Aluminum by 27.9% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 6,471 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $469,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Kaiser Aluminum by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,440 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,332,000 after purchasing an additional 1,337 shares during the period. Finally, 180 Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kaiser Aluminum by 22.9% in the 4th quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,567 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $532,000 after buying an additional 1,412 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kaiser Aluminum Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $62.27 and a 200 day moving average of $70.39. The firm has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.10 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 2.44.

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

Kaiser Aluminum Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 25th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 25th. Kaiser Aluminum's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 115.36%.

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.