Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Stock Price Up 13.6% After Earnings Beat

Century Aluminum Company (NASDAQ:CENX) shares were up 13.6% during trading on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as high as $52.65 and last traded at $52.2130. Approximately 1,169,686 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 46% from the average session volume of 2,166,267 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.95.

The industrial products company reported $2.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by $0.13. Century Aluminum had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 38.74%. The company had revenue of $752.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $817.15 million. The business’s revenue was up 59.0% on a year-over-year basis.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. B. Riley Financial dropped their target price on shares of Century Aluminum from $86.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Century Aluminum from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Century Aluminum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. Weiss Ratings lowered Century Aluminum from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Zacks Research cut Century Aluminum from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Century Aluminum presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.00.

Institutional Trading of Century Aluminum

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ruffer LLP bought a new stake in shares of Century Aluminum in the fourth quarter worth about $936,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Century Aluminum by 18.7% during 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 buying an additional 1,094,257 shares during the last quarter. Kailix Advisors LLC bought a new position in Century Aluminum during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,742,000. Sigma Planning Corp purchased a new position in Century Aluminum during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,249,000. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Century Aluminum during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $899,000. 61.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Century Aluminum Trading Up 11.5%

The firm has a market cap of $5.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.85 and a beta of 1.96. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.30, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Century Aluminum Company Profile

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.