Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $24.09 and last traded at $23.87, with a volume of 247135 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $21.12.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. B. Riley increased their target price on shares of Century Aluminum from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Century Aluminum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Century Aluminum from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th.

Century Aluminum Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The business has a 50-day moving average of $16.97 and a 200-day moving average of $16.45. The company has a market capitalization of $2.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.57 and a beta of 2.47.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.31. Century Aluminum had a return on equity of 11.37% and a net margin of 14.60%. The firm had revenue of $539.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $587.10 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.13) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Century Aluminum will post 0.56 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Century Aluminum

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Century Aluminum by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 45,288 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $697,000 after buying an additional 1,102 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Century Aluminum during the first quarter valued at approximately $601,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Century Aluminum by 7,779.8% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 7,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $108,000 after acquiring an additional 6,924 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Century Aluminum in the first quarter worth $163,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Century Aluminum by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,819,805 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $89,567,000 after purchasing an additional 39,900 shares in the last quarter. 61.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Century Aluminum Company Profile

Century Aluminum Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the production of standard-grade and value-added primary aluminum products in the United States and Iceland. It also owns and operates an alumina production facility in Iceland, and a carbon anode production facility in the Netherlands.