Morgan Stanley Boosts Alcoa (NYSE:AA) Price Target to $49.00

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) had its target price upped by Morgan Stanley from $48.00 to $49.00 in a report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of Alcoa from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $43.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Alcoa from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Alcoa from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wolfe Research raised Alcoa from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $36.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, B. Riley raised shares of Alcoa from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $41.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Thursday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.45.

Alcoa Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AA opened at $41.72 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $34.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.79. The company has a market cap of $7.49 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.10 and a beta of 2.42. Alcoa has a 12-month low of $23.07 and a 12-month high of $45.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The industrial products company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.34. Alcoa had a negative return on equity of 7.29% and a negative net margin of 5.14%. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.14) earnings per share. Alcoa’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Alcoa will post 0.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alcoa Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 29th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 29th. Alcoa’s payout ratio is presently -10.64%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alcoa

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AA. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alcoa by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,222 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $128,000 after buying an additional 344 shares during the period. Trust Point Inc. raised its stake in Alcoa by 23.7% during the third quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 6,884 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 1,317 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Alcoa by 70.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 11,836 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $457,000 after purchasing an additional 4,909 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its position in shares of Alcoa by 33.4% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 31,817 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,227,000 after purchasing an additional 7,964 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $54,859,000 after purchasing an additional 27,217 shares during the last quarter. 82.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Alcoa

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.