Alcoa (NYSE:AA) Trading Down 11.3% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Alcoa (NYSE:AA) were down 11.3% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $55.80 and last traded at $56.9890. Approximately 3,666,660 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 53% from the average daily volume of 7,790,367 shares. The stock had previously closed at $64.23.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Alcoa from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $50.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Alcoa from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Zacks Research cut shares of Alcoa from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $68.00 target price on Alcoa in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Alcoa in a report on Monday, December 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.45.

Alcoa Stock Down 10.1%

The stock’s fifty day moving average is $61.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.06 and a beta of 1.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.31. Alcoa had a net margin of 9.12% and a return on equity of 16.19%. The firm had revenue of $6.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.04 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Alcoa will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alcoa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. Alcoa’s payout ratio is currently 9.05%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alcoa

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alcoa by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,682 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $568,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alcoa by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 57,940 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,079,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of Alcoa by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 13,596 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $722,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Alcoa by 1.5% during the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 22,497 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $740,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares in the last quarter.

Alcoa Company Profile

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.