Alcoa Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:AA)

Alcoa Co. (NYSE:AA) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 55,402 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 151% compared to the typical daily volume of 22,030 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AA. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Alcoa from $46.00 to $43.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. B. Riley increased their price target on Alcoa from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Alcoa from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Alcoa from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Alcoa from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.80.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of Alcoa by 3,731.1% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 799,705 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,190,000 after purchasing an additional 778,831 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Alcoa by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 44,612 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,517,000 after buying an additional 6,295 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Alcoa by 78.7% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 26,829 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $912,000 after buying an additional 11,817 shares during the last quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alcoa during the 4th quarter worth about $227,000. Finally, Quent Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alcoa by 64.2% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 990 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 387 shares during the last quarter.

Alcoa Stock Down 3.1 %

AA stock traded down $1.06 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $32.84. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,344,965 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,933,695. Alcoa has a 52-week low of $23.07 and a 52-week high of $45.48. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.90 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.99 and a beta of 2.45.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The industrial products company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.05. Alcoa had a negative return on equity of 7.29% and a negative net margin of 5.14%. The firm had revenue of $2.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.84 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.35) earnings per share. Alcoa’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Alcoa will post 0.96 EPS for the current year.

Alcoa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 20th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. Alcoa’s payout ratio is -10.64%.

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.