First Trust Advisors LP Purchases 88,513 Shares of Centrus Energy Corp. $LEU

First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Centrus Energy Corp. (NYSE:LEU) by 193.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 134,382 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 88,513 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.79% of Centrus Energy worth $24,616,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LEU. Stone House Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Centrus Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Centrus Energy by 157.7% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 183 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new stake in shares of Centrus Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of Centrus Energy by 1,181.3% in the 2nd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 205 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank raised its holdings in shares of Centrus Energy by 589.5% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 655 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 560 shares in the last quarter. 49.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings initiated coverage on Centrus Energy in a research note on Friday, December 5th. They issued a “hold (c)” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Centrus Energy from $275.00 to $245.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 7th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Centrus Energy in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Needham & Company LLC initiated coverage on shares of Centrus Energy in a research report on Friday, December 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $357.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group set a $245.00 price target on shares of Centrus Energy in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.36.

Centrus Energy Stock Up 0.3%

NYSE:LEU opened at $265.43 on Thursday. Centrus Energy Corp. has a one year low of $49.40 and a one year high of $464.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.23, a current ratio of 3.46 and a quick ratio of 2.79. The company has a market cap of $4.83 billion, a PE ratio of 40.34 and a beta of 1.33. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $315.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $242.65.

Centrus Energy (NYSE:LEU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.17). Centrus Energy had a net margin of 25.04% and a return on equity of 37.14%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.30) EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Centrus Energy Corp. will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current year.

About Centrus Energy

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.