Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Trading Down 3% – Here’s Why

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) traded down 3% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $17.39 and last traded at $17.39. 48,391 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 366,509 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.93.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CENX. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Century Aluminum from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. B. Riley increased their target price on Century Aluminum from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Century Aluminum from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Century Aluminum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 9th.

Century Aluminum Stock Down 4.2 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.74 and a beta of 2.50. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $20.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.37.

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

Insider Activity at Century Aluminum

In other news, CEO Jesse E. Gary sold 29,243 shares of Century Aluminum stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.97, for a total value of $554,739.71. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 50,753 shares in the company, valued at approximately $962,784.41. This trade represents a 36.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Century Aluminum by 0.4% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 366,804 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,144,000 after purchasing an additional 1,641 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in shares of Century Aluminum by 43.2% during the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 15,242 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $255,000 after acquiring an additional 4,598 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Century Aluminum by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 162,798 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,727,000 after purchasing an additional 6,886 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Century Aluminum by 104.1% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 2,716 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 1,385 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its stake in Century Aluminum by 102.9% during the second quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 91,886 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,539,000 after buying an additional 46,598 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.59% of the company’s stock.

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.