Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys New Position in Alcoa Co. (NYSE:AA)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Alcoa Co. (NYSE:AA) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 50,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,703,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AA. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $208,174,000 after buying an additional 4,483,625 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Alcoa in the first quarter worth $318,670,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Alcoa in the fourth quarter worth $128,592,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in Alcoa in the third quarter worth $39,557,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Alcoa by 24.9% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,941,667 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $172,665,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185,323 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Activity at Alcoa

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

Alcoa Stock Performance

NYSE:AA opened at $35.53 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.45. Alcoa Co. has a 52-week low of $23.07 and a 52-week high of $42.23. The firm has a market cap of $6.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.45, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 2.47. The business’s fifty day moving average is $31.14 and its 200 day moving average is $29.06.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The industrial products company reported ($0.81) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.62) by ($0.19). Alcoa had a negative net margin of 6.41% and a negative return on equity of 8.30%. The company had revenue of $2.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.23) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Alcoa Co. will post 0.33 EPS for the current year.

Alcoa Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 5th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.13%. Alcoa’s payout ratio is -10.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com cut Alcoa from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Alcoa from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Alcoa from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Alcoa from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, B. Riley boosted their target price on Alcoa from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alcoa has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.96.

Alcoa Company Profile

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.