Alcoa (NYSE:AA) Raised to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Alcoa (NYSE:AA) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a report released on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. Morgan Stanley currently has $36.50 price target on the industrial products company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $28.50.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on AA. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Alcoa from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Bank of America raised their target price on Alcoa from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. StockNews.com downgraded Alcoa from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Alcoa from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, B. Riley raised their target price on Alcoa from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alcoa has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $33.54.

Alcoa Price Performance

Shares of AA opened at $36.07 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Alcoa has a 12 month low of $23.07 and a 12 month high of $38.20. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $31.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.22. The firm has a market cap of $6.48 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.59, a PEG ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 2.47.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The industrial products company reported ($0.81) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.62) by ($0.19). Alcoa had a negative net margin of 6.41% and a negative return on equity of 8.51%. The business had revenue of $2.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.23) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Alcoa will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alcoa Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 5th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 4th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.11%. Alcoa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -10.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alcoa

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alcoa by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 26,485 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $900,000 after buying an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Alcoa by 64.2% in the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 990 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Alcoa by 5.7% in the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 7,750 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $262,000 after buying an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of Alcoa by 2.5% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 20,874 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $607,000 after buying an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Alcoa by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 87,960 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,991,000 after buying an additional 574 shares in the last quarter.

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.