Freemont Management S.A. Reduces Stock Position in Alcoa $AA

Freemont Management S.A. cut its stake in Alcoa (NYSE:AA) by 33.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 25,000 shares during the period. Freemont Management S.A.’s holdings in Alcoa were worth $2,657,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AA. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Alcoa by 187.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 408,624 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $21,902,000 after purchasing an additional 266,574 shares during the last quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alcoa during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,631,000. Regal Partners Ltd raised its position in shares of Alcoa by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Regal Partners Ltd now owns 451,940 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $14,864,000 after purchasing an additional 29,612 shares during the last quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alcoa during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,606,000. Finally, Alphadyne Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Alcoa during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,467,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on AA shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded Alcoa from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $64.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Zacks Research upgraded Alcoa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Alcoa from $54.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Alcoa from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Argus set a $73.00 price objective on Alcoa in a research report on Monday, April 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.27.

Alcoa Stock Up 1.2%

AA stock opened at $68.42 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.32 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.48. Alcoa has a one year low of $25.83 and a one year high of $75.70. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $65.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.24.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The industrial products company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.60 by ($0.20). The firm had revenue of $3.19 billion during 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 firm’s revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.15 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alcoa will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Alcoa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 19th. Alcoa’s payout ratio is presently 10.13%.

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.