Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

Century Aluminum Company (NASDAQ:CENX) shares gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday after B. Riley raised their price target on the stock from $37.00 to $64.00. The stock had previously closed at $47.32, but opened at $50.90. B. Riley currently has a buy rating on the stock. Century Aluminum shares last traded at $50.2580, with a volume of 400,519 shares trading hands.

CENX has been the subject of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Century Aluminum from $46.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Century Aluminum from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Zacks Research cut shares of Century Aluminum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Century Aluminum in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Century Aluminum news, CEO Jesse E. Gary sold 150,000 shares of Century Aluminum stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.19, for a total value of $7,228,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 292,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,099,430.20. The trade was a 33.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Century Aluminum

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CENX. Glencore plc boosted its stake in Century Aluminum by 33.6% during the 4th quarter. Glencore plc now owns 53,511,894 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,096,596,000 after purchasing an additional 13,454,538 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its holdings in Century Aluminum by 340.1% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,733,668 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,248,000 after buying an additional 1,339,744 shares in the last quarter. Sourcerock Group LLC raised its position in Century Aluminum by 612.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sourcerock Group LLC now owns 1,424,088 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $25,662,000 after buying an additional 1,224,088 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Century Aluminum by 18.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,939,794 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $271,901,000 after buying an additional 1,094,257 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Century Aluminum by 392.3% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 767,692 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $22,539,000 after acquiring an additional 611,758 shares during the period. 61.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Century Aluminum Stock Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $39.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.98. The stock has a market cap of $4.71 billion, a PE ratio of 59.42 and a beta of 2.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.71.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.23). Century Aluminum had a net margin of 3.47% and a return on equity of 12.83%. The company had revenue of $632.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $629.85 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Century Aluminum Company will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Century Aluminum

Century Aluminum Company is a primary aluminum producer that develops and operates smelters designed to supply low-carbon, high-purity aluminum products to a range of industrial and commercial markets. Established in 1995, the company has grown to become a significant North American aluminum producer with an expanding international footprint. Century Aluminum is headquartered in the United States and is focused on energy-efficient operations and cost management.

The company’s core operations include three primary aluminum smelting facilities located in Hawesville, Kentucky; Mount Holly, South Carolina; and Grundartangi, Iceland.