HighTower Advisors LLC Buys 231 Shares of Centrus Energy Corp. $LEU

HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Centrus Energy Corp. (NYSE:LEU) by 4.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,055 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Centrus Energy were worth $314,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Centrus Energy by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 29,226 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,947,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Centrus Energy by 4.6% during the first quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 4,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Centrus Energy by 3.0% during the first quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,068 shares of the company’s stock worth $751,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in Centrus Energy by 10.6% during the first quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 4,496 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in Centrus Energy by 2.1% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 21,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,361,000 after purchasing an additional 441 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 49.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on LEU shares. Northland Capmk upgraded shares of Centrus Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Centrus Energy in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $285.00 price objective (up previously from $210.00) on shares of Centrus Energy in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on shares of Centrus Energy in a report on Friday, July 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $220.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Centrus Energy from $150.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Centrus Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.09.

Centrus Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Centrus Energy stock opened at $203.89 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.09, a current ratio of 2.93 and a quick ratio of 2.46. The firm has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.23 and a beta of 1.53. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $203.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $132.74. Centrus Energy Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $34.91 and a fifty-two week high of $264.90.

Centrus Energy (NYSE:LEU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $1.01. Centrus Energy had a net margin of 16.56% and a return on equity of 84.09%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Centrus Energy Corp. will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Centrus Energy Profile

Centrus Energy Corp. supplies nuclear fuel components and services for the nuclear power industry in the United States, Belgium, Japan, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Low-Enriched Uranium (LEU) and Technical Solutions. The LEU segment sells separative work units (SWU) components of LEU; natural uranium hexafluoride, uranium concentrates, and uranium conversion; and enriched uranium products to utilities that operate nuclear power plants.