Alcoa Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:AA)

Alcoa Co. (NYSE:AA) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors acquired 28,953 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 55% compared to the typical daily volume of 18,632 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AA shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Alcoa from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Alcoa from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. B. Riley Financial restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $41.00 price objective on shares of Alcoa in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Alcoa from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Bank of America raised Alcoa from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $43.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.75.

Insider Transactions at Alcoa

In related news, EVP Renato Bacchi sold 23,867 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.29, for a total value of $1,009,335.43. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,423,935.93. This represents a 29.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alcoa

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in Alcoa in the first quarter worth about $593,000. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alcoa by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 1,421,955 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $54,859,000 after acquiring an additional 27,217 shares during the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP boosted its holdings in Alcoa by 73.0% during the 3rd quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 36,848 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,422,000 after acquiring an additional 15,546 shares during the period. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Alcoa in the 2nd quarter valued at $706,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Alcoa by 43.4% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 271,276 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,361,000 after purchasing an additional 82,073 shares during the period.

Alcoa Trading Up 6.8 %

AA stock opened at $44.02 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $38.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.60. Alcoa has a fifty-two week low of $23.80 and a fifty-two week high of $46.55. The firm has a market cap of $11.37 billion, a PE ratio of -25.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 2.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.41.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The industrial products company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. Alcoa had a negative net margin of 2.65% and a negative return on equity of 1.45%. The business’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted ($1.14) EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alcoa will post 0.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alcoa Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 29th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 29th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. Alcoa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -22.73%.

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.