Alcoa’s shift should spur growth

Article Excerpt

ALCOA INC. $15 (New York symbol AA; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 1.2 billion; Market cap: $18.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.7; Dividend yield: 0.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.alcoa.com) plans to upgrade its Hampton, Virginia, plant to make lightweight aluminum blades that help cut new jet engines’fuel consumption by 20% over older models. Alcoa will spend $25 million on this project. To put that in context, it earned $98 million, or $0.09 a share, in the three months ended March 31, 2014. Meanwhile, the company continues to cut its exposure to less-profitable bulk aluminum sales. For example, it now plans to sell its 55% stake in a joint venture that mines and processes bauxite ore in Jamaica. Bauxite is the main source of aluminum. Alcoa is a buy. buy…