Kaiser Aluminum (NASDAQ:KALU) Hits New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Kaiser Aluminum Corporation (NASDAQ:KALU) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $106.66 and last traded at $107.4350, with a volume of 85662 shares. The stock had previously closed at $103.90.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on KALU. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Kaiser Aluminum from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Kaiser Aluminum from $82.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Kaiser Aluminum from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. Zacks Research raised Kaiser Aluminum from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Kaiser Aluminum from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kaiser Aluminum presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.67.

Kaiser Aluminum Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $89.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.55. The company has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a PE ratio of 19.29 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 2.48.

Kaiser Aluminum (NASDAQ:KALU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 2nd. The industrial products company reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $765.40 million for the quarter. Kaiser Aluminum had a return on equity of 10.67% and a net margin of 2.85%. As a group, research analysts expect that Kaiser Aluminum Corporation will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kaiser Aluminum Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 24th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 24th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Kaiser Aluminum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kaiser Aluminum news, EVP Blain Tiffany sold 8,656 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.92, for a total value of $812,971.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 26,275 shares in the company, valued at $2,467,748. This represents a 24.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kaiser Aluminum

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in Kaiser Aluminum by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 4,217 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kaiser Aluminum by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 299,274 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $18,142,000 after acquiring an additional 956 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Kaiser Aluminum in the first quarter valued at $430,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kaiser Aluminum in the first quarter valued at about $2,622,000. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Kaiser Aluminum by 27.5% during the first quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 50,570 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,066,000 after buying an additional 10,898 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.