Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Downgraded to Sell Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Monday morning.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Century Aluminum from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Century Aluminum from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, B. Riley raised their price target on Century Aluminum from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th.

Century Aluminum Trading Down 3.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ CENX opened at $19.39 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.22. The company has a market cap of $1.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.14 and a beta of 2.50. Century Aluminum has a 12 month low of $9.85 and a 12 month high of $25.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The industrial products company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.05. Century Aluminum had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 13.38%. The company had revenue of $631.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $515.27 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.39 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Century Aluminum will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jesse E. Gary sold 29,243 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.97, for a total value 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. The trade was a 36.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Century Aluminum

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings 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 worth $15,565,000 after purchasing an additional 319,164 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Century Aluminum by 266.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 97,396 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,581,000 after buying an additional 70,825 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Century Aluminum by 17.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 301,992 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,901,000 after buying an additional 43,881 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new position in Century Aluminum in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $337,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Century Aluminum by 16.9% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 621,300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,084,000 after acquiring an additional 89,621 shares during the last quarter. 61.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.