Panagora Asset Management Inc. Buys 721,617 Shares of Alcoa $AA

Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alcoa (NYSE:AA) by 93.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,496,468 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 721,617 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. owned 0.58% of Alcoa worth $79,522,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. MML Investors Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alcoa by 63.5% during the fourth quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 17,442 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $927,000 after purchasing an additional 6,777 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alcoa by 380.4% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 155,430 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,277,000 after purchasing an additional 123,076 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its holdings in shares of Alcoa by 215.1% during the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 38,316 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,036,000 after purchasing an additional 26,157 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in shares of Alcoa during the fourth quarter worth about $4,628,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Alcoa during the fourth quarter worth about $514,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on AA. B. Riley Financial boosted their price objective on Alcoa from $78.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Alcoa from $54.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Alcoa from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley set a $79.00 price objective on Alcoa in a report on Thursday. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Alcoa from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.50.

Alcoa Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of AA opened at $68.69 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $18.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.39 and a beta of 1.56. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Alcoa has a 1 year low of $27.72 and a 1 year high of $84.38.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The industrial products company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.60 by ($0.20). The firm had revenue of $3.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.35 billion. Alcoa had a return on equity of 12.57% and a net margin of 8.27%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.15 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Alcoa will post 7.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alcoa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 19th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Alcoa’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.13%.

About Alcoa

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.