Alcoa Co. (NYSE:AA) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Alcoa Co. (NYSE:AA – Get Rating) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 7,620,000 shares, a growth of 7.0% from the February 13th total of 7,120,000 shares. Currently, 4.3% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 4,830,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.6 days.

Alcoa Price Performance

Alcoa stock opened at $39.77 on Thursday. Alcoa has a 12 month low of $33.55 and a 12 month high of $98.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $7.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -47.68, a PEG ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 2.45. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $50.35 and its 200-day moving average is $46.12.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 18th. The industrial products company reported ($0.70) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.85) by $0.15. Alcoa had a negative net margin of 0.82% and a positive return on equity of 13.17%. The business had revenue of $2.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.50 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 20.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Alcoa will post 2.41 EPS for the current year.

Alcoa Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 6th. Alcoa’s dividend payout ratio is presently -47.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO William F. Oplinger sold 134,444 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total value of $7,130,909.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 71,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,795,542.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO William F. Oplinger sold 134,444 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total transaction of $7,130,909.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 71,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,795,542.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey D. Heeter sold 40,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.21, for a total value of $2,055,057.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 37,840 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,937,786.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 210,188 shares of company stock valued at $11,017,365 in the last three months.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new position in shares of Alcoa in the first quarter worth about $29,000. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in shares of Alcoa by 4.9% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 9,359 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $842,000 after buying an additional 434 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Alcoa during the 1st quarter valued at $435,000. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can increased its position in Alcoa by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 108,717 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,089,000 after purchasing an additional 8,028 shares during the period. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL purchased a new position in Alcoa during the 1st quarter valued at $242,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Alcoa from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 11th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Alcoa from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 19th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Alcoa from $56.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 20th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Alcoa from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 1st. Finally, B. Riley increased their target price on Alcoa from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 19th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.67.

About Alcoa

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Alcoa Corp. engages in the production of bauxite, alumina, and aluminum products. It operates through the following segments: Bauxite, Alumina, and Aluminum. The Bauxite segment represents the company’ global bauxite mining operations. The Alumina segment includes the company’s worldwide refining system, which processes bauxite into alumina.