Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Howmet Aerospace Call Options (NYSE:HWM)

Howmet Aerospace Inc. (NYSE:HWM) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors purchased 4,288 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 60% compared to the average volume of 2,685 call options.

Howmet Aerospace Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HWM opened at $129.83 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $121.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $109.74. Howmet Aerospace has a 1 year low of $62.80 and a 1 year high of $140.55. The company has a market capitalization of $52.58 billion, a PE ratio of 46.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 2.17.

Howmet Aerospace (NYSE:HWM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.03. Howmet Aerospace had a net margin of 15.55% and a return on equity of 25.74%. The firm had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Howmet Aerospace will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Howmet Aerospace Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.31%. This is an increase from Howmet Aerospace’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Howmet Aerospace’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.18%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Howmet Aerospace

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Howmet Aerospace by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 47,117,309 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,153,220,000 after purchasing an additional 352,256 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Howmet Aerospace by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 20,198,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,209,071,000 after purchasing an additional 2,486,649 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Howmet Aerospace by 2.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,440,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,748,378,000 after purchasing an additional 384,171 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Howmet Aerospace by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,213,937 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,445,210,000 after purchasing an additional 80,972 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in Howmet Aerospace by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 10,947,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,197,315,000 after purchasing an additional 1,026,130 shares in the last quarter. 90.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Howmet Aerospace from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Howmet Aerospace from $103.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Howmet Aerospace from $120.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Howmet Aerospace from $113.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Howmet Aerospace from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.28.

About Howmet Aerospace

Howmet Aerospace Inc provides advanced engineered solutions for the aerospace and transportation industries in the United States, Japan, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Italy, Canada, Poland, China, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Engine Products, Fastening Systems, Engineered Structures, and Forged Wheels.