Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) shares gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $18.28, but opened at $18.80. Century Aluminum shares last traded at $18.60, with a volume of 326,813 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on CENX shares. Wolfe Research raised shares of Century Aluminum from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Century Aluminum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 9th. B. Riley boosted 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Century Aluminum from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th.

Century Aluminum Stock Up 1.7 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 1.71. The company has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.18 and a beta of 2.50. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.59.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $539.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 last year, the firm posted ($0.13) earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Century Aluminum will post 0.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Century Aluminum

In related news, CEO Jesse E. Gary sold 29,243 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.97, for a total transaction of $554,739.71. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 50,753 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this hyperlink. 0.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Century Aluminum

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Century Aluminum during the fourth quarter worth approximately $54,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Century Aluminum by 159.2% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,256 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Century Aluminum by 39.6% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,347 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 1,233 shares during the last quarter. Olympiad Research LP acquired a new position in Century Aluminum during the third quarter valued at approximately $180,000. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Century Aluminum in the 3rd quarter valued at $189,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.59% of the company’s stock.

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.