Alcoa (NYSE:AA) Trading Up 9.5% – Time to Buy?

Alcoa (NYSE:AA)’s stock price rose 9.5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $72.11 and last traded at $72.5770. Approximately 2,460,143 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 62% from the average daily volume of 6,541,365 shares. The stock had previously closed at $66.27.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AA. Zacks Research downgraded Alcoa from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Argus set a $73.00 price target on Alcoa in a research note on Monday, April 27th. UBS Group raised Alcoa from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Alcoa from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Alcoa from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.60.

Alcoa Trading Up 8.2%

The company has a market capitalization of $18.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.15 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $65.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $57.32.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The industrial products company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.60 by ($0.20). Alcoa had a net margin of 8.27% and a return on equity of 12.57%. The business had revenue of $3.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.15 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Alcoa will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Alcoa Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 19th. Alcoa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.13%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alcoa

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AA. Basepoint Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Alcoa in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in shares of Alcoa in the third quarter worth $27,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Alcoa by 52,500.0% during the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 526 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 525 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in Alcoa during the third quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Alcoa by 74.1% during the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 557 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 237 shares during the period. 82.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Alcoa

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.