Ruffer LLP Purchases Shares of 265,910 Alcoa $AA

Ruffer LLP purchased a new stake in Alcoa (NYSE:AA) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 265,910 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,153,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in Alcoa by 188.9% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 39,918 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,121,000 after purchasing an additional 26,102 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alcoa during the 4th quarter worth about $1,399,000. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alcoa during the 4th quarter worth about $264,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of Alcoa by 26.6% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 103,517 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,501,000 after acquiring an additional 21,758 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Krilogy Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alcoa during the 4th quarter worth about $1,223,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AA. Morgan Stanley raised Alcoa from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $64.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Alcoa from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Alcoa from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen raised Alcoa from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $68.00 target price on Alcoa in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.73.

Alcoa Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE:AA opened at $66.99 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $64.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.43. The company has a market capitalization of $17.68 billion, a PE ratio of 16.96 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Alcoa has a 52-week low of $23.57 and a 52-week high of $75.70.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The industrial products company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by ($0.20). The firm had revenue of $3.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.35 billion. Alcoa had a return on equity of 12.57% and a net margin of 8.27%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.15 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alcoa will post 7.57 EPS for the current year.

Alcoa Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 10th. Alcoa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.13%.

Alcoa Profile

Alcoa Corporation is a global industry leader in the production and management of aluminum, offering an integrated value chain that spans bauxite mining, alumina refining, primary aluminum smelting and the fabrication of value-added products. The company’s operations are organized into segments that include raw material extraction, chemical processing and the manufacture of metal mill products and engineered solutions.

Alcoa’s product portfolio serves diverse end markets such as aerospace, automotive, packaging, construction, electrical and industrial applications.