Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Given New $37.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) had its target price lifted by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $34.00 to $37.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 12.05% from the stock’s current price.

CENX has been the subject of several other reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Century Aluminum from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 3rd. B. Riley increased their price target on Century Aluminum from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Century Aluminum in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research downgraded Century Aluminum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Century Aluminum from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.50.

Century Aluminum Stock Up 13.9%

CENX stock traded up $4.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $33.02. 3,222,291 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,759,043. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.16. The company has a market capitalization of $3.08 billion, a PE ratio of 28.47 and a beta of 2.51. Century Aluminum has a twelve month low of $13.05 and a twelve month high of $34.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.79 by ($0.23). The company had revenue of $632.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $629.85 million. Century Aluminum had a return on equity of 18.02% and a net margin of 4.94%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Century Aluminum will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Matt Aboud sold 12,027 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.27, for a total value of $279,868.29. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 62,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,456,446.03. This represents a 16.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Agust F. Hafberg sold 9,493 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total transaction of $264,949.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 55,260 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,542,306.60. This trade represents a 14.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Century Aluminum

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of Century Aluminum by 340.1% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,733,668 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,248,000 after buying an additional 1,339,744 shares in the last quarter. Sourcerock Group LLC boosted its stake in Century Aluminum by 612.0% during the second quarter. Sourcerock Group LLC now owns 1,424,088 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $25,662,000 after buying an additional 1,224,088 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in Century Aluminum during the first quarter worth about $19,317,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Century Aluminum in the first quarter worth about $14,726,000. Finally, Encompass Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Century Aluminum in the 1st quarter valued at about $13,920,000. 61.59% of the stock is 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.