Alcoa (NYSE:AA) Rating Increased to Overweight at Morgan Stanley

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) was upgraded by Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $80.00 price objective on the industrial products company’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $64.00. Morgan Stanley’s target price suggests a potential upside of 11.41% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Alcoa from $54.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $68.00 price target on shares of Alcoa in a report on Thursday, March 12th. B. Riley Financial boosted their target price on shares of Alcoa from $78.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Alcoa from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $50.00 to $68.00 in a report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Alcoa from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alcoa currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.09.

Alcoa Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AA opened at $71.81 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $18.95 billion, a PE ratio of 16.25 and a beta of 1.70. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $62.27 and its 200-day moving average is $50.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.44. Alcoa has a 52 week low of $21.53 and a 52 week high of $73.38.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $6.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. Alcoa had a net margin of 9.12% and a return on equity of 16.19%. Alcoa’s revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.04 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Alcoa will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alcoa

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alcoa by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,682 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $568,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alcoa by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 57,940 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,079,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the period. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alcoa by 74.1% during the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 557 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alcoa by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 13,596 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $722,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $740,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the period.

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.