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

Century Aluminum Company (NASDAQ:CENX) 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 changing hands.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Century Aluminum news, CEO Jesse E. Gary sold 150,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.19, for a total transaction of $7,228,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 292,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,099,430.20. The trade was a 33.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Century Aluminum

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Glencore plc grew its holdings in Century Aluminum by 33.6% in the fourth 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 period. Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of Century Aluminum by 340.1% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,733,668 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,248,000 after buying an additional 1,339,744 shares during the period. Sourcerock Group LLC raised its position in shares of 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 period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Century Aluminum by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,939,794 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $271,901,000 after acquiring an additional 1,094,257 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Century Aluminum by 392.3% during the third 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 Price Performance

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a market capitalization of $4.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.19 and a beta of 2.26.

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