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

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors bought 41,151 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 79% compared to the average daily volume of 22,990 call options.

Alcoa Stock Down 1.7%

Alcoa stock opened at $39.45 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.21 billion, a PE ratio of 9.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 2.20. Alcoa has a twelve month low of $21.53 and a twelve month high of $47.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a 50 day moving average of $33.46 and a 200-day moving average of $30.01.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.13. The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.03 billion. Alcoa had a net margin of 8.91% and a return on equity of 15.91%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.57 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Alcoa will post 4.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alcoa Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 4th. Alcoa’s dividend payout ratio is 9.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Alcoa from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup upgraded shares of Alcoa to a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $43.50 price objective on shares of Alcoa in a report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Alcoa from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Alcoa from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $42.13.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Alcoa in the second quarter worth $97,933,000. L1 Capital Pty Ltd lifted its position in shares of Alcoa by 178.8% in the second quarter. L1 Capital Pty Ltd now owns 4,814,342 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $142,071,000 after purchasing an additional 3,087,298 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Alcoa by 33.9% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,803,086 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $207,490,000 after purchasing an additional 1,721,222 shares in the last quarter. Drummond Knight Asset Management Pty Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Alcoa in the second quarter worth $44,893,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in Alcoa during the second quarter worth $44,151,000.

About Alcoa

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.