Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Alcoa Call Options (NYSE:AA)

Alcoa Co. (NYSE:AA) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Investors purchased 28,953 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 55% compared to the typical daily volume of 18,632 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alcoa news, EVP Renato Bacchi sold 23,867 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.29, for a total transaction of $1,009,335.43. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,423,935.93. The trade was a 29.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alcoa

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Alcoa during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Alcoa by 481.7% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 762 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 631 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Alcoa during the third quarter valued at $43,000. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Alcoa by 1,945.5% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 1,125 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 1,070 shares during the period. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in Alcoa by 1,501.9% in the first quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 1,698 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 1,592 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AA shares. B. Riley Financial reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $41.00 price target on shares of Alcoa in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Alcoa from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com raised Alcoa from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Alcoa from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Alcoa from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $36.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.75.

Alcoa Stock Performance

Shares of AA stock opened at $44.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.41. The company has a market capitalization of $11.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -25.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 2.42. Alcoa has a one year low of $23.80 and a one year high of $46.55. The company’s 50-day moving average is $38.94 and its 200 day moving average is $37.60.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The industrial products company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. Alcoa had a negative net margin of 2.65% and a negative return on equity of 1.45%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($1.14) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Alcoa will post 0.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alcoa Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 29th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 29th. Alcoa’s payout ratio is currently -22.73%.

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.