Head to Head Survey: Kaiser Aluminum (KALU) versus The Competition

Kaiser Aluminum (NASDAQ:KALU) is one of 1,984 publicly-traded companies in the “Metals & Mining” industry, but how does it contrast to its rivals? We will compare Kaiser Aluminum to related businesses based on the strength of its profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Kaiser Aluminum and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Kaiser Aluminum	4.85%	23.65%	7.66%
Kaiser Aluminum Competitors	-1,168,050,136,845,918,000.00%	-53.13%	-2.10%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Kaiser Aluminum and its rivals, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Kaiser Aluminum	0	3	4	0	2.57
Kaiser Aluminum Competitors	6403	22590	32290	1796	2.47

Kaiser Aluminum presently has a consensus price target of $141.00, indicating a potential upside of 27.33%. As a group, “Metals & Mining” companies have a potential upside of 30.04%. Given Kaiser Aluminum’s rivals higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Kaiser Aluminum has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

99.3% of Kaiser Aluminum shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 15.8% of shares of all “Metals & Mining” companies are held by institutional investors. 1.3% of Kaiser Aluminum shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 17.6% of shares of all “Metals & Mining” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Kaiser Aluminum and its rivals top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Kaiser Aluminum	$3.37 billion	$112.50 million	8.55
Kaiser Aluminum Competitors	$4.65 billion	$278.94 million	-45.04

Kaiser Aluminum’s rivals have higher revenue and earnings than Kaiser Aluminum. Kaiser Aluminum is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Dividends

Kaiser Aluminum pays an annual dividend of $3.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Kaiser Aluminum pays out 23.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Metals & Mining” companies pay a dividend yield of 10.5% and pay out 10.8% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Kaiser Aluminum lags its rivals as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Risk and Volatility

Kaiser Aluminum has a beta of 1.72, suggesting that its stock price is 72% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Kaiser Aluminum’s rivals have a beta of 1.04, suggesting that their average stock price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Kaiser Aluminum beats its rivals on 8 of the 15 factors compared.

About Kaiser Aluminum

Kaiser Aluminum Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in manufacture and sale of semi-fabricated specialty aluminum mill products in the United States and internationally. It offers rolled, extruded, and drawn aluminum products used for aerospace and defense, aluminum beverage and food packaging, automotive and general engineering products. The company's automotive extrusions include extruded aluminum products for structural components, crash management systems, anti-lock braking systems, and drawn tubes for drive shafts, as well as offers fabrication services, including sawing and cutting to length. Its packaging products consist of bare and coated 3000- and 5000-series alloy aluminum coil used for beverage and food packaging industry. In addition, the company's general engineering products comprise alloy plate, sheet, rod, bar, tube, wire, and standard extrusion shapes used in various applications, including the production of military vehicles, ordnances, semiconductor manufacturing cells, electronic devices, after-market motor sport parts, tooling plates, parts for machinery and equipment, bolts, screws, nails, and rivets. Further, its rerolled, extruded, drawn, and cast billet aluminum products used for industrial end uses. The company sells its products directly to customers through sales personnel located in the United States, Canada, Western Europe, and China, as well as through independent sales agents in other regions of Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. Kaiser Aluminum Corporation was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Franklin, Tennessee.