Traders Purchase Large Volume of Alcoa Call Options (NYSE:AA)

Alcoa Co. (NYSE:AA) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Investors bought 27,556 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 53% compared to the typical volume of 18,056 call options.

Institutional Trading of Alcoa

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AA. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alcoa by 4,023.0% in the third quarter. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC now owns 10,795,880 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $416,505,000 after buying an additional 10,534,036 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Alcoa in the 4th quarter valued at about $259,273,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Alcoa by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,563,645 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $368,965,000 after purchasing an additional 1,805,915 shares in the last quarter. Sourcerock Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Alcoa by 319.1% in the fourth quarter. Sourcerock Group LLC now owns 1,978,009 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $74,729,000 after purchasing an additional 1,506,009 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co lifted its holdings in shares of Alcoa by 11,317.8% in the third quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 1,427,799 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $55,084,000 after purchasing an additional 1,415,294 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.39% of the company’s stock.

Alcoa Stock Down 4.4 %

NYSE AA traded down $1.40 on Friday, hitting $30.58. 6,441,051 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,367,569. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a market cap of $7.92 billion, a PE ratio of -191.15, a PEG ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 2.55. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $34.75 and a 200-day moving average of $38.06. Alcoa has a 12 month low of $27.12 and a 12 month high of $47.77.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.13. Alcoa had a net margin of 0.50% and a return on equity of 5.54%. As a group, analysts forecast that Alcoa will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Alcoa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. Alcoa’s payout ratio is -250.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their price target on Alcoa to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Alcoa from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Alcoa from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. HC Wainwright lifted their price target on shares of Alcoa to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Alcoa to $43.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.92.

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.