Norges Bank Purchases Shares of 1,271,781 Alcoa $AA

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Alcoa (NYSE:AA) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,271,781 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,582,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new stake in Alcoa in the 4th quarter valued at $6,582,000. Basepoint Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Alcoa in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Rothschild Investment LLC increased its stake in Alcoa by 643.7% in the 4th quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 4,633 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $246,000 after buying an additional 4,010 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in Alcoa by 513.4% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 12,042 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $640,000 after buying an additional 10,079 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC increased its stake in Alcoa by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 12,824 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $681,000 after buying an additional 1,153 shares during the last quarter.

Alcoa Stock Down 8.0%

Shares of AA stock opened at $71.81 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.48. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $68.79 and its 200-day moving average is $60.16. The stock has a market cap of $18.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.18 and a beta of 1.56. Alcoa has a 52-week low of $27.72 and a 52-week high of $84.38.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last issued its 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. Alcoa had a net margin of 8.27% and a return on equity of 12.57%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.15 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Alcoa will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Alcoa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were 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 was Tuesday, May 19th. Alcoa’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on AA. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Alcoa from $54.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $68.00 price target on shares of Alcoa in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Alcoa from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Alcoa from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Alcoa from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $64.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Alcoa presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.60.

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.