Morgan Stanley Reaffirms “Overweight” Rating for Alcoa (NYSE:AA)

Alcoa (NYSE:AA)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reissued by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $79.00 price target on the industrial products company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 66.64% from the company’s previous close.

AA has been the topic of a number of other reports. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $70.00 price target on shares of Alcoa in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Alcoa from $82.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Alcoa from $54.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Zacks Research lowered Alcoa from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, B. Riley Financial boosted their target price on Alcoa from $78.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.82.

Alcoa Trading Down 9.1%

Shares of NYSE:AA traded down $4.73 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $47.41. The stock had a trading volume of 9,507,877 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,401,102. The firm has a market cap of $12.51 billion, a PE ratio of 11.98 and a beta of 1.56. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $62.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Alcoa has a twelve month low of $28.11 and a twelve month high of $84.38.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 16th. The industrial products company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.60 by ($0.20). The firm had revenue of $3.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. Alcoa had a return on equity of 12.57% and a net margin of 8.27%.The firm’s revenue was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.15 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Alcoa will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alcoa

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alcoa by 64.6% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 118,039 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,830,000 after acquiring an additional 46,332 shares during the period. Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd lifted its position in Alcoa by 90.9% in the 1st quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd now owns 90,258 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,987,000 after acquiring an additional 42,979 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Alcoa by 40.2% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,677 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 1,340 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Alcoa by 19.7% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 8,788 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $583,000 after purchasing an additional 1,446 shares during the period. Finally, Cozad Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Alcoa by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 136,075 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,026,000 after purchasing an additional 4,925 shares in the last quarter.

Key Stories Impacting Alcoa

Here are the key news stories impacting Alcoa this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alcoa announced a major acquisition of South32’s bauxite, alumina, and aluminum assets for about $4.1 billion upfront, a move that expands its upstream footprint and could strengthen its long-term position in aluminum production. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Citi reiterated a Buy rating on Alcoa and kept its $76 price target, saying the acquisition could drive upside if the integration goes well. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Media coverage highlighted Alcoa as one of the key stock movers before the open, but broader market weakness and a pullback in technology shares were also weighing on sentiment overall. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Investors may be focused on execution and financing risks from the South32 deal, since the transaction is large and could add integration complexity even if it is strategically attractive.

About Alcoa

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.