Legal & General Group Plc Raises Stake in Alcoa Co. (NYSE:AA)

Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in Alcoa Co. (NYSE:AA) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 388,196 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,760 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Alcoa were worth $14,666,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alcoa by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,979,129 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $981,491,000 after buying an additional 165,420 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Alcoa in the fourth quarter worth $259,273,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Alcoa by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,232,766 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $159,966,000 after acquiring an additional 39,022 shares during the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Alcoa by 29.6% during the fourth quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 2,998,311 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $113,276,000 after acquiring an additional 684,505 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Alcoa by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,550,861 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $96,372,000 after purchasing an additional 192,078 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on AA. B. Riley raised shares of Alcoa to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Alcoa from $40.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Alcoa from $47.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Alcoa to $43.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $26.00 target price (down previously from $58.00) on shares of Alcoa in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.00.

Alcoa Stock Performance

Shares of AA opened at $24.67 on Wednesday. Alcoa Co. has a one year low of $21.53 and a one year high of $47.77. The business has a fifty day moving average of $31.82 and a 200 day moving average of $37.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.39 billion, a P/E ratio of -154.16, a PEG ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 2.28.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.13. Alcoa had a net margin of 0.50% and a return on equity of 5.54%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alcoa Co. will post 4.43 EPS for the current year.

Alcoa Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. Alcoa’s payout ratio is presently -250.00%.

Alcoa 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.