Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on CENX. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Century Aluminum from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. B. Riley increased their price target on shares of Century Aluminum from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Century Aluminum from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday.

Century Aluminum Stock Performance

CENX traded up $1.17 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $18.55. 2,623,216 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,672,869. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $19.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.87 and a beta of 2.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Century Aluminum has a 52-week low of $9.65 and a 52-week high of $25.39.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The industrial products company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.05. Century Aluminum had a return on equity of 13.38% and a net margin of 14.69%. The company had revenue of $631.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $515.27 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.39 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Century Aluminum will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Century Aluminum news, CEO Jesse E. Gary sold 29,243 shares of Century Aluminum stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.97, for a total transaction of $554,739.71. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 50,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $962,784.41. The trade was a 36.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Century Aluminum

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CENX. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Century Aluminum during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. AlphaQuest LLC increased its holdings in Century Aluminum by 2,889.3% in the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 2,511 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 2,427 shares during the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Century Aluminum in the 4th quarter worth $54,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Century Aluminum by 159.2% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,256 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corton Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Century Aluminum during the fourth quarter valued at about $189,000. 61.59% of the stock is currently owned by 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.