Short Interest in Alcoa (NYSE:AA) Increases By 26.7%

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totaling 7,591,654 shares, a growth of 26.7% from the December 15th total of 5,991,437 shares. Currently, 2.9% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 5,183,978 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.5 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 5,183,978 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.5 days. Currently, 2.9% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alcoa by 74.1% in the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 557 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank bought a new stake in shares of Alcoa during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in Alcoa by 2,281.3% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 762 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 730 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in Alcoa in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Alcoa in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AA has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on Alcoa from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. B. Riley raised their target price on shares of Alcoa from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $50.00 target price (up from $45.00) on shares of Alcoa in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Zacks Research raised Alcoa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $71.00 price target on Alcoa and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.83.

Alcoa Price Performance

AA traded down $3.67 on Friday, reaching $60.14. The stock had a trading volume of 12,272,839 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,903,107. 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 company has a market capitalization of $15.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.22 and a beta of 1.95. Alcoa has a fifty-two week low of $21.53 and a fifty-two week high of $66.95. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $48.54 and a 200-day moving average of $38.36.

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

Alcoa Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 4th. Alcoa’s payout ratio is 9.24%.

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.