Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Alcoa Call Options (NYSE:AA)

Alcoa Co. (NYSE:AA) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Traders bought 39,703 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 118% compared to the typical volume of 18,245 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alcoa

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alcoa in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Alcoa by 481.7% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 762 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 631 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Alcoa during the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alcoa by 1,945.5% during the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 1,125 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 1,070 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Alcoa by 399.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,447 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,157 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on AA. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Alcoa to $43.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Alcoa from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. B. Riley raised shares of Alcoa from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $41.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Alcoa from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Alcoa to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.36.

Alcoa Stock Performance

AA traded down $1.57 during trading on Thursday, reaching $37.21. 6,731,616 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,986,689. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $40.54 and a 200 day moving average of $37.70. The stock has a market cap of $9.61 billion, a P/E ratio of -21.14, a PEG ratio of 0.16 and a beta of 2.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Alcoa has a 52 week low of $24.86 and a 52 week high of $47.77.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.13. Alcoa had a negative return on equity of 1.45% and a negative net margin of 2.65%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alcoa will post 0.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alcoa Company Profile

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.