Alcoa Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:AA)

Alcoa Co. (NYSE:AA) was the target of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 28,620 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 53% compared to the average daily volume of 18,647 call options.

Alcoa Price Performance

AA traded up $0.41 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $36.59. 1,919,982 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,948,463. The company has a market capitalization of $9.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -228.81, a PEG ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 2.43. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Alcoa has a 52-week low of $24.86 and a 52-week high of $47.77.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.13. Alcoa had a return on equity of 5.54% and a net margin of 0.50%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alcoa will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alcoa

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Alcoa by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,979,129 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $981,491,000 after acquiring an additional 165,420 shares during the last quarter. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 10,534,036 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Alcoa by 23.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,563,645 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $368,965,000 after purchasing an additional 1,805,915 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Alcoa during the fourth quarter worth approximately $259,273,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Alcoa by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,232,766 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $159,966,000 after buying an additional 39,022 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. B. Riley upgraded Alcoa to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Alcoa from $55.00 to $51.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective 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. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Alcoa to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Alcoa from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $48.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Alcoa presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.55.

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.