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 trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 366,509 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.93.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Century Aluminum Stock Down 4.2 %

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $20.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.37. The firm has a market cap of $1.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.74 and a beta of 2.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $539.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $587.10 million. Century Aluminum had a net margin of 14.60% and a return on equity of 11.37%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.13) EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Century Aluminum will post 0.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Jesse E. Gary sold 29,243 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.97, for a total transaction of $554,739.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 50,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $962,784.41. This represents a 36.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Century Aluminum

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC raised its stake in Century Aluminum by 1,607.1% in the third quarter. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC now owns 22,849,097 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $370,841,000 after buying an additional 21,510,639 shares during the last quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Century Aluminum by 1,208.7% in the 2nd quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,401,638 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $23,477,000 after purchasing an additional 1,294,538 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Century Aluminum by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,279,772 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $20,774,000 after purchasing an additional 13,486 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Century Aluminum by 30.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,186,243 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $19,870,000 after purchasing an additional 276,304 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Century Aluminum by 49.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 959,033 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $15,565,000 after purchasing an additional 319,164 shares in the last quarter. 61.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.