Jefferies Financial Group Raises Alcoa (NYSE:AA) Price Target to $48.00

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) had its price objective upped by research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $45.00 to $48.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 33.30% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group started coverage on Alcoa in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. They set a “sell” rating and a $29.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of Alcoa from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Alcoa from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Alcoa from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Alcoa from $27.00 to $29.50 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.21.

Alcoa Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of AA traded up $0.46 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $36.01. The company had a trading volume of 5,243,540 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,346,286. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market cap of $6.47 billion, a PE ratio of -9.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 2.47. Alcoa has a 1-year low of $23.07 and a 1-year high of $42.23.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The industrial products company reported ($0.81) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.62) by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $2.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.55 billion. Alcoa had a negative return on equity of 6.56% and a negative net margin of 6.17%. Alcoa’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.23) earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Alcoa will post 0.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Tammi A. Jones sold 26,468 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.78, for a total value of $814,685.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 41,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,267,089.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in Alcoa by 3.4% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,273,477 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $352,119,000 after acquiring an additional 271,387 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Alcoa by 24.9% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,941,667 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $172,665,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185,323 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its position in Alcoa by 4,737.1% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,578,275 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $208,174,000 after buying an additional 4,483,625 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Alcoa by 34.4% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,312,340 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $146,626,000 after buying an additional 1,104,423 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alcoa during the first quarter worth approximately $318,670,000.

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.