Howmet Aerospace Inc. (NYSE:HWM) Short Interest Update

Howmet Aerospace Inc. (NYSE:HWM) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,450,000 shares, a growth of 9.2% from the March 15th total of 6,820,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,480,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.1 days. Currently, 1.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Howmet Aerospace in a research report on Friday, January 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Howmet Aerospace from $65.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Howmet Aerospace from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Howmet Aerospace from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Howmet Aerospace from $65.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Neil Edward Marchuk sold 45,000 shares of Howmet Aerospace stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.44, for a total transaction of $3,034,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 229,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,482,065.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HWM. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Howmet Aerospace by 61.3% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Howmet Aerospace in the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Headinvest LLC bought a new position in Howmet Aerospace during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Garner Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Howmet Aerospace during the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Clear Street Markets LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Howmet Aerospace by 93.8% in the 1st quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 721 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. 90.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Howmet Aerospace Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HWM traded up $0.53 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $64.02. 2,640,763 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,132,124. The company has a 50-day moving average of $65.44 and a 200-day moving average of $56.19. Howmet Aerospace has a 52-week low of $42.17 and a 52-week high of $69.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.86 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

Howmet Aerospace (NYSE:HWM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.06. Howmet Aerospace had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 20.12%. The company had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.65 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. Howmet Aerospace’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Howmet Aerospace will post 2.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Howmet Aerospace Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 9th were given a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 8th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.31%. Howmet Aerospace’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.93%.

Howmet Aerospace Company Profile

Howmet Aerospace Inc provides advanced engineered solutions for the aerospace and transportation industries in the United States, Japan, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Italy, Canada, Poland, China, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Engine Products, Fastening Systems, Engineered Structures, and Forged Wheels.