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

Alcoa Co. (NYSE:AA) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,960,000 shares, a decrease of 9.3% from the June 30th total of 12,090,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 5,320,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days. Currently, 6.2% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alcoa

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AA. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of Alcoa by 15.1% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,353 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in Alcoa by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 26,485 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $900,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC increased its position in Alcoa by 64.2% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 990 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 387 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co increased its position in Alcoa by 5.7% during the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 7,750 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $262,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its position in Alcoa by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 87,960 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,991,000 after acquiring an additional 574 shares during the last quarter.

Alcoa Price Performance

AA traded down $1.56 on Thursday, hitting $31.48. 18,444,635 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,030,753. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.92. Alcoa has a 12 month low of $23.07 and a 12 month high of $45.48.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The industrial products company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.84 billion. Alcoa had a negative return on equity of 7.29% and a negative net margin of 5.14%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.35) EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Alcoa will post 0.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Alcoa Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 12th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. Alcoa’s dividend payout ratio is presently -10.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Alcoa from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Alcoa from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Bank of America lowered their target price on Alcoa from $46.00 to $43.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. UBS Group upped their target price on Alcoa from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Alcoa from $32.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alcoa has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.80.

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.