Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Shares Up 11.7% Following Analyst Upgrade

Century Aluminum Company (NASDAQ:CENX)’s stock price shot up 11.7% during mid-day trading on Friday after BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on the stock from $30.00 to $34.00. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Century Aluminum traded as high as $31.00 and last traded at $32.3780. 258,456 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 1,746,008 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.98.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. B. Riley upped their price target on Century Aluminum from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Century Aluminum in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Century Aluminum from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Century Aluminum from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Century Aluminum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Matt Aboud sold 12,027 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was 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 $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 available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Agust F. Hafberg sold 9,493 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 55,260 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,542,306.60. The trade was a 14.66% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Century Aluminum

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CENX. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in Century Aluminum by 130.4% during the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 33,414 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $620,000 after acquiring an additional 18,909 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Century Aluminum by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 326,795 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,065,000 after purchasing an additional 7,093 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Century Aluminum by 21.3% during the 1st quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 359,867 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,679,000 after purchasing an additional 63,086 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Century Aluminum in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,146,000. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new stake in Century Aluminum during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,361,000. Institutional investors own 61.59% of the company’s stock.

Century Aluminum Stock Up 11.8%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 1.75. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.21 and a beta of 2.51.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) last issued 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 18.02% and a net margin of 4.94%.The company had revenue of $632.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $629.85 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Century Aluminum Company will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current year.

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.