Alcoa (NYSE:AA) Receives “Equal Weight” Rating from Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley reaffirmed their equal weight rating on shares of Alcoa (NYSE:AA) in a report published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat reports. They currently have a $53.00 price target on the industrial products company’s stock, down from their prior price target of $79.00.

AA has been the topic of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings raised Alcoa from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. B. Riley Financial cut their price target on Alcoa from $92.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Alcoa from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Alcoa from $82.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Alcoa from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.00.

Alcoa Stock Down 1.1%

AA opened at $48.47 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $63.84 and a 200-day moving average of $62.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.63. 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 1-year low of $28.11 and a 1-year high of $84.38.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The industrial products company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by ($0.20). The company 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 company’s revenue was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.15 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alcoa will post 8.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Alcoa Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 19th were given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 19th. Alcoa’s dividend payout ratio is 10.13%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Alcoa by 187.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 408,624 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $21,902,000 after purchasing an additional 266,574 shares in the last quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Alcoa in the third quarter worth $5,606,000. Moran Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Alcoa in the fourth quarter worth $2,631,000. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alcoa by 114.2% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 28,945 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,538,000 after purchasing an additional 15,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alphadyne Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Alcoa during the third quarter worth $2,467,000.

Key Alcoa News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alcoa this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley downgraded Alcoa to Equal-weight from a more favorable view, cutting its price target to $53 from $79. The firm said the changing supply backdrop should favor copper, gold, and silver, while aluminum is likely headed into surplus and iron ore remains under pressure. Morgan Stanley upgrades Ivanhoe Mines, cuts Alcoa and Vale on metals outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Another report noted Morgan Stanley reaffirmed its Equal-weight rating on Alcoa while reducing the price target from $79 to $53, reinforcing a more cautious stance on the stock’s near-term upside. Alcoa had its “equal weight” rating reaffirmed by Morgan Stanley
• Negative Sentiment: B. Riley Financial also lowered its price target on Alcoa to $80 from $92, even while keeping a Buy rating. The cut adds to the sense that analysts see less room for a sustained move higher in the stock. Alcoa (NYSE:AA) Price Target Lowered to $80.00 at B. Riley Financial
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent market commentary and analyst-call roundups have kept Alcoa in focus, but the main driver remains the softer outlook for aluminum prices compared with other metals. Here Are Wednesday’s Best Wall Street Analyst Research Calls: Alcoa, Commercial Metals, DTE Energy, Dollar Tree, Occidental Petroleum, PayPal, Pinterest, Snap, Travelers, and More

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.