NEW YORK （AP） — Shares of Alcoa Inc. jumped 4 percent Monday after an analyst upgraded the aluminum company and said it could benefit from higher prices going forward.
Deutsche Bank analyst Jorge Beristain upgraded Alcoa to "Buy" from "Hold," and raised the target for the company's shares to $22 from $14.
"Alcoa's laggard status has piqued investor interest in the name as a possible come-back play for 2011 and given signs of operational stability, we don't disagree," Beristain wrote in a note to clients Monday.
Alcoa, based in Pittsburgh, was battered by a global manufacturing slowdown that hurt demand for its aluminum products, which include aluminum sheets for factory production.
While aluminum prices have not risen as much as other industrial metals like copper, Beristain said price improvements could lie ahead as global economic growth continues.
"Investors have clearly been negative aluminum through 2010; however, our sense is that the 'worst' is already passed," he wrote.
Shares of Alcoa rose 57 cents, or 3.7 percent, to $15.96 during afternoon trading.
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