Kaiser Aluminum Co. (NASDAQ:KALU) Short Interest Down 36.1% in April

Kaiser Aluminum Co. (NASDAQ:KALU) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 341,900 shares, a decline of 36.1% from the March 31st total of 535,000 shares. Currently, 2.2% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 152,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Kaiser Aluminum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 18th. Wolfe Research upgraded Kaiser Aluminum from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Kaiser Aluminum from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Benchmark decreased their price target on shares of Kaiser Aluminum from $100.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st.

Kaiser Aluminum Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KALU opened at $64.38 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a PE ratio of 22.43 and a beta of 1.32. Kaiser Aluminum has a fifty-two week low of $46.81 and a fifty-two week high of $102.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 2.44.

Kaiser Aluminum (NASDAQ:KALU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.91. The business had revenue of $777.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $788.00 million. Kaiser Aluminum had a net margin of 1.55% and a return on equity of 6.25%. The company’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.02 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Kaiser Aluminum will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kaiser Aluminum Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.78%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 25th. Kaiser Aluminum’s payout ratio is 115.36%.

Institutional Trading of Kaiser Aluminum

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kaiser Aluminum in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,878,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Kaiser Aluminum by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 447,723 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,461,000 after purchasing an additional 49,948 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Kaiser Aluminum by 103.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 431,980 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,355,000 after purchasing an additional 219,827 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its position in Kaiser Aluminum by 101.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 27,454 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,991,000 after purchasing an additional 13,813 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in Kaiser Aluminum by 196.0% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 8,934 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $629,000 after purchasing an additional 5,916 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kaiser Aluminum Company Profile

Kaiser Aluminum Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in manufacture and sale of semi-fabricated specialty aluminum mill products in the United States and internationally. It offers rolled, extruded, and drawn aluminum products used for aerospace and defense, aluminum beverage and food packaging, automotive and general engineering products.