Levin Capital Strategies L.P. Grows Position in Alcoa Co. (NYSE:AA)

Levin Capital Strategies L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Alcoa Co. (NYSE:AA) by 1,324.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 190,657 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 177,271 shares during the quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. owned about 0.11% of Alcoa worth $6,482,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AA. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in Alcoa during the third quarter valued at $39,557,000. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of Alcoa by 3,731.1% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 799,705 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,190,000 after acquiring an additional 778,831 shares during the period. Monaco Asset Management SAM raised its stake in shares of Alcoa by 1,362.5% in the third quarter. Monaco Asset Management SAM now owns 585,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $17,000,000 after acquiring an additional 545,000 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Alcoa by 61.7% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 904,407 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,751,000 after acquiring an additional 345,004 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Alcoa by 7.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,216,008 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $93,457,000 after acquiring an additional 222,884 shares during the period.

Alcoa Stock Up 4.7 %

NYSE AA traded up $1.62 during trading on Thursday, reaching $35.87. 3,572,284 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,440,429. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market cap of $6.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 2.44. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.57. Alcoa Co. has a 12-month low of $23.07 and a 12-month high of $38.20.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The industrial products company reported ($0.81) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.62) by ($0.19). Alcoa had a negative net margin of 6.41% and a negative return on equity of 8.51%. The business had revenue of $2.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.55 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.23) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alcoa Co. will post 0.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alcoa Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 5th were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 4th. Alcoa’s dividend payout ratio is currently -10.64%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Tammi A. Jones sold 26,468 shares of Alcoa stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.78, for a total value of $814,685.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 41,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,267,089.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Alcoa from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. B. Riley increased their target price on shares of Alcoa from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Alcoa from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Alcoa from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $28.50 to $36.50 in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Alcoa from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.54.

Alcoa 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.