Alcoa (NYSE:AA) Upgraded by Morgan Stanley to Equal Weight

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Alcoa (NYSE:AA) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $36.50 price target on the industrial products company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $28.50.

AA has been the subject of several other reports. B. Riley boosted their price objective on Alcoa from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Alcoa from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Bank of America upped their target price on Alcoa from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. UBS Group upped their target price on Alcoa from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a sell rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Alcoa from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $33.54.

Alcoa Stock Performance

Shares of AA stock opened at $36.07 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The business has a 50 day moving average of $31.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $29.22. Alcoa has a 52 week low of $23.07 and a 52 week high of $38.20. The company has a market cap of $6.48 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.59, a PEG ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 2.47.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The industrial products company reported ($0.81) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.62) by ($0.19). The business had revenue of $2.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.55 billion. Alcoa had a negative return on equity of 8.51% and a negative net margin of 6.41%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.23) earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Alcoa will post 0.17 EPS for the current year.

Alcoa Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 5th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 4th. Alcoa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -10.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alcoa

In other news, EVP Tammi A. Jones sold 26,468 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.78, for a total value of $814,685.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 41,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,267,089.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alcoa

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Spire Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Alcoa by 252.5% in the first quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 899 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 644 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Alcoa by 2.6% in the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 51,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,737,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank increased its stake in shares of Alcoa by 8.0% in the first quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 121,732 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,113,000 after acquiring an additional 9,027 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alcoa in the first quarter worth $422,000. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its holdings in Alcoa by 2.6% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 43,875 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,483,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter.

Alcoa Company Profile

Alcoa Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, produces and sells bauxite, alumina, and aluminum products in the United States, Spain, Australia, Iceland, Norway, Brazil, Canada, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Alumina and Aluminum. It engages in bauxite mining operations; and processes bauxite into alumina and sells it to customers who process it into industrial chemical products, as well as aluminum smelting and casting businesses.