Optas LLC Raises Stock Position in Howmet Aerospace Inc. (NYSE:HWM)

Optas LLC lifted its stake in Howmet Aerospace Inc. (NYSE:HWM) by 27.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,518 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 550 shares during the period. Optas LLC’s holdings in Howmet Aerospace were worth $327,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of HWM. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Howmet Aerospace by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 47,117,309 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,153,220,000 after purchasing an additional 352,256 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Howmet Aerospace by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 20,198,146 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,209,071,000 after buying an additional 2,486,649 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Howmet Aerospace by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,213,937 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,445,210,000 after acquiring an additional 80,972 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Howmet Aerospace by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 10,947,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,197,315,000 after acquiring an additional 1,026,130 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Howmet Aerospace by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,810,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,070,267,000 after acquiring an additional 308,574 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.46% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Barbara Lou Shultz sold 1,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.17, for a total value of $193,962.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 23,044 shares in the company, valued at $3,575,737.48. This represents a 5.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Neil Edward Marchuk sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.53, for a total value of $4,755,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 131,859 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,903,607.27. This represents a 18.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 831,250 shares of company stock valued at $130,517,863. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Howmet Aerospace Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HWM opened at $170.91 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $151.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $133.06. Howmet Aerospace Inc. has a 52-week low of $76.83 and a 52-week high of $177.25. The company has a market cap of $68.99 billion, a PE ratio of 60.61, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 2.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Howmet Aerospace (NYSE:HWM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. Howmet Aerospace had a net margin of 15.55% and a return on equity of 25.74%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Howmet Aerospace Inc. will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

Howmet Aerospace Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. Howmet Aerospace’s dividend payout ratio is 13.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on HWM. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Howmet Aerospace from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Howmet Aerospace from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Northcoast Research raised Howmet Aerospace from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Benchmark raised their price target on Howmet Aerospace from $85.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Howmet Aerospace from $161.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $142.13.

Howmet Aerospace Profile

Howmet Aerospace Inc provides advanced engineered solutions for the aerospace and transportation industries in the United States, Japan, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Italy, Canada, Poland, China, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Engine Products, Fastening Systems, Engineered Structures, and Forged Wheels.