Kaiser Aluminum (NASDAQ:KALU) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kaiser Aluminum (NASDAQ:KALU) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

Kaiser Aluminum Trading Up 1.9 %

NASDAQ:KALU opened at $68.75 on Friday. Kaiser Aluminum has a 52 week low of $63.44 and a 52 week high of $102.42. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $71.05 and a 200 day moving average of $73.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 2.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.95 and a beta of 1.34.

Kaiser Aluminum (NASDAQ:KALU) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by ($0.30). Kaiser Aluminum had a net margin of 1.55% and a return on equity of 6.25%. The firm had revenue of $765.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $752.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kaiser Aluminum will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kaiser Aluminum Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.48%. Kaiser Aluminum’s payout ratio is 107.32%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of KALU. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Kaiser Aluminum by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,810 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $276,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Kaiser Aluminum by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 84,370 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,119,000 after purchasing an additional 5,287 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP acquired a new position in Kaiser Aluminum during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $319,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its stake in Kaiser Aluminum by 91.6% during the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 9,121 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $661,000 after purchasing an additional 4,360 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chesapeake Capital Corp IL increased its stake in shares of Kaiser Aluminum by 27.9% in the third quarter. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL now owns 6,471 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $474,000 after acquiring an additional 1,412 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

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.