Van ECK Associates Corp Grows Position in Alcoa Co. (NYSE:AA)

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Alcoa Co. (NYSE:AA - Free Report) by 31.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 140,002 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 33,568 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 0.08% of Alcoa worth $4,760,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in Alcoa by 3,731.1% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 799,705 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $27,190,000 after buying an additional 778,831 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Alcoa by 4.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,234,472 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $35,874,000 after buying an additional 54,876 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Alcoa by 132.2% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 112,082 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,824,000 after buying an additional 63,816 shares during the period. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC purchased a new stake in Alcoa during the fourth quarter valued at about $227,000. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its position in Alcoa by 90.9% during the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 61,801 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,796,000 after buying an additional 29,431 shares during the period.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Tammi A. Jones sold 26,468 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.78, for a total transaction of $814,685.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 41,166 shares in the company, valued at $1,267,089.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Alcoa Stock Performance

AA traded up $0.56 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $37.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,767,917 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,426,765. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Alcoa Co. has a 1 year low of $23.07 and a 1 year high of $38.20. The stock's 50-day moving average is $32.93 and its 200-day moving average is $29.72.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The industrial products company reported ($0.81) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.62) by ($0.19). The business had revenue of $2.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.55 billion. Alcoa had a negative return on equity of 8.51% and a negative net margin of 6.41%. Alcoa's revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.23) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alcoa Co. will post 0.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alcoa Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 5th were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 4th. Alcoa's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -10.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on AA shares. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Alcoa from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Alcoa from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Alcoa from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Alcoa from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, B. Riley upped their price objective on shares of Alcoa from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alcoa has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $33.54.

About Alcoa

Alcoa Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, produces and sells bauxite, alumina, and aluminum products in the United States, Spain, Australia, Iceland, Norway, Brazil, Canada, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Alumina and Aluminum. It engages in bauxite mining operations; and processes bauxite into alumina and sells it to customers who process it into industrial chemical products, as well as aluminum smelting and casting businesses.