Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Shares Down 8.6%

Shares of Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) were down 8.6% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $15.77 and last traded at $15.85. Approximately 606,443 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 58% from the average daily volume of 1,440,186 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.35.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CENX. B. Riley raised shares of Century Aluminum from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $10.00 to $14.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. StockNews.com raised Century Aluminum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Century Aluminum from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday.

Century Aluminum Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $14.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market cap of $1.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -32.56 and a beta of 2.66.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The industrial products company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by $0.53. The company had revenue of $512.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $514.40 million. Century Aluminum had a positive return on equity of 5.18% and a negative net margin of 2.05%. As a group, analysts predict that Century Aluminum will post -0.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Century Aluminum

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Century Aluminum by 199.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,878 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 1,918 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP bought a new stake in shares of Century Aluminum in the 4th quarter worth about $68,000. Strs Ohio lifted its holdings in Century Aluminum by 625.0% during the 3rd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 8,700 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 7,500 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Century Aluminum by 35.9% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,107 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 2,405 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capstone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Century Aluminum in the 1st quarter worth approximately $161,000. 61.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Century Aluminum

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.