Kaiser Aluminum Corp. shares upgraded to “Buy” by major brokerages

Shares of Kaiser Aluminum Corp. have been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the six analysts that are covering the stock, Analyst Ratings Network.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $85.00.

Kaiser Aluminum has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Investment Research lowered Kaiser Aluminum Corp. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 29th. Deutsche Bank began coverage on Kaiser Aluminum Corp. in a research note on Monday, October 12th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $85.00 target price for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Kaiser Aluminum Corp. to $82.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 23rd.

Other hedge funds and institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Independent Portfolio Consultants boosted its position in Kaiser Aluminum Corp. by 23.8% in the fourth quarter. Independent Portfolio Consultants now owns 1,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $135,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the period. Gerstein Fisher purchased a new position in Kaiser Aluminum Corp. during the third quarter valued at approximately $269,000. Finally, Eagle Asset Management boosted its position in Kaiser Aluminum Corp. by 99.0% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management now owns 350,154 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,098,000 after buying an additional 174,193 shares during the period.

Shares of Kaiser Aluminum Corp. traded up 2.37% during trading on Thursday, reaching $78.90. 98,518 shares of the company traded hands. Kaiser Aluminum Corp. has a 12 month low of $68.42 and a 12 month high of $88.92. The stock’s market capitalization is $1.38 billion. The company has a 50-day moving average of $83.47 and a 200-day moving average of $83.11.

Kaiser Aluminum Corp. last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.09. The company earned $336 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $354.70 million. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. Analysts forecast that Kaiser Aluminum Corp. will post $4.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.