Alcoa (NYSE:AA) Reaches New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Alcoa (NYSE:AA) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $75.75 and last traded at $75.8790, with a volume of 1428867 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $73.15.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on AA shares. Zacks Research cut shares of Alcoa from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Alcoa from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Argus set a $73.00 price target on shares of Alcoa in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Alcoa from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $64.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Alcoa from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alcoa presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.60.

Alcoa Trading Up 3.5%

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $66.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a market cap of $19.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.13 and a beta of 1.51.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The industrial products company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by ($0.20). The company had revenue of $3.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. Alcoa had a return on equity of 12.57% and a net margin of 8.27%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.15 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Alcoa will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alcoa Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 19th. Alcoa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.13%.

Institutional Trading of Alcoa

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Alcoa by 187.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 408,624 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $21,902,000 after purchasing an additional 266,574 shares during the last quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alcoa during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,631,000. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alcoa during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $5,606,000. Regal Partners Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Alcoa by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Regal Partners Ltd now owns 451,940 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $14,864,000 after purchasing an additional 29,612 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alphadyne Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Alcoa during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,467,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.39% of the company’s stock.

Alcoa Company Profile

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.