Alcoa remains the better pick for now

Article Excerpt

On November 1, 2016, Arconic spun off its bulk aluminum business as Alcoa. Investors received one Alcoa share for every three Arconic shares they owned. Alcoa is now up over 300% since the split, thanks largely to rising aluminum demand and prices as the global economy recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic. However, as a consumer of aluminum, Arconic is down slightly. It’s likely aluminum prices will remain elevated for some time, which is why Alcoa is the better choice for your new buying. ALCOA CORP. $94 is a buy. The company (New York symbol AA; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 184.1 million; Market cap: $17.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.1; Dividend yield: 0.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; www.alcoa.com) is a leading producer of bauxite ore with mines in Australia, Brazil, Guinea (West Africa) and Saudi Arabia. It also operates refineries that convert bauxite into aluminum products. Russia supplies 6% of the world’s aluminum. Due to economic sanctions that have blocked exports from that country, aluminum…