Alcoa (NYSE:AA) Sets New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $48.22 and last traded at $48.3950, with a volume of 1044612 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.84.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research raised Alcoa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $52.00 price objective on shares of Alcoa in a research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Alcoa from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. B. Riley lifted their price target on Alcoa from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Alcoa from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.85.

Alcoa Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.16, a PEG ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 1.99. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.81.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.13. Alcoa had a net margin of 8.91% and a return on equity of 15.85%. The company had revenue of $2.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.57 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Alcoa will post 4.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alcoa Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Alcoa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.24%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AA. Mirabella Financial Services LLP boosted its stake in Alcoa by 12,233.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP now owns 40,082,462 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,318,312,000 after acquiring an additional 39,757,462 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Alcoa in the second quarter valued at approximately $97,933,000. L1 Capital Pty Ltd raised its holdings in Alcoa by 178.8% in the second quarter. L1 Capital Pty Ltd now owns 4,814,342 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $142,071,000 after purchasing an additional 3,087,298 shares during the period. Drummond Knight Asset Management Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in Alcoa in the second quarter worth $44,893,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of Alcoa during the second quarter worth $44,151,000.

Alcoa Company Profile

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.