Alcoa (NYSE:AA) Short Interest Update

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) saw a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totaling 7,591,654 shares, a growth of 26.7% from the December 15th total of 5,991,437 shares. Currently, 2.9% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 5,183,978 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.5 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 5,183,978 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.5 days. Currently, 2.9% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alcoa

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in shares of Alcoa by 1,096.0% in the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 897 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 822 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alcoa in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alcoa in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Horrell Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alcoa in the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC lifted its position in Alcoa by 74.1% in the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 557 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AA has been the subject of several recent research reports. B. Riley boosted their price target on Alcoa from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $52.00 price objective on shares of Alcoa in a report on Monday, December 15th. Zacks Research raised Alcoa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Alcoa from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Alcoa in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.83.

Alcoa Price Performance

Shares of Alcoa stock traded down $3.67 on Monday, hitting $60.14. 12,272,839 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,903,107. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $48.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.22 and a beta of 1.95. Alcoa has a 1-year low of $21.53 and a 1-year high of $66.95.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $2.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.03 billion. Alcoa had a net margin of 8.91% and a return on equity of 15.85%. Alcoa’s revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.57 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alcoa will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alcoa Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 4th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Alcoa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.24%.

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.