Kaiser Aluminum (NASDAQ:KALU) Rating Lowered to "Hold" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen has downgraded Kaiser Aluminum (NASDAQ:KALU) from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating, indicating a shift in analyst sentiment towards the stock.
• Benchmark decreased their price target for Kaiser Aluminum from $100.00 to $74.00, while JPMorgan Chase raised their target from $64.00 to $82.00, reflecting varying opinions among analysts.
• Kaiser Aluminum reported an EPS of $1.21 for the last quarter, significantly exceeding expectations of $0.49, signaling better-than-anticipated company performance despite the downgrade.

Kaiser Aluminum (NASDAQ:KALU - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Kaiser Aluminum from $64.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Kaiser Aluminum from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th.

Kaiser Aluminum Price Performance

NASDAQ KALU traded up $1.41 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $76.13. The company had a trading volume of 23,950 shares, compared to its average volume of 137,904. Kaiser Aluminum has a 52 week low of $46.81 and a 52 week high of $97.00. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $71.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 2.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.57 and a beta of 1.51.

Kaiser Aluminum (NASDAQ:KALU - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.72. Kaiser Aluminum had a return on equity of 8.03% and a net margin of 2.05%. The business had revenue of $823.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $786.70 million. Equities research analysts expect that Kaiser Aluminum will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Aquatic Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Kaiser Aluminum by 87.1% in the 4th quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 1,684 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $118,000 after buying an additional 784 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC bought a new stake in Kaiser Aluminum in the 4th quarter worth approximately $121,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in Kaiser Aluminum by 325.0% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,768 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $124,000 after buying an additional 1,352 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its position in Kaiser Aluminum by 136.3% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,616 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $129,000 after buying an additional 932 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC lifted its position in Kaiser Aluminum by 385.7% in the 1st quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 3,162 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $192,000 after buying an additional 2,511 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company's stock.

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.