Zacks Research Upgrades Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) to “Strong-Buy”

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) was upgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Century Aluminum from $69.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Century Aluminum from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Century Aluminum from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. B. Riley Financial lifted their target price on Century Aluminum from $68.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $75.00 target price on Century Aluminum and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.33.

Century Aluminum Trading Down 2.4%

CENX stock traded down $1.49 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $61.13. 217,272 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,194,168. The company has a market capitalization of $6.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 153.15 and a beta of 1.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Century Aluminum has a fifty-two week low of $14.77 and a fifty-two week high of $68.69. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $57.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $45.09.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25. The company had revenue of $633.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $661.63 million. Century Aluminum had a return on equity of 5.57% and a net margin of 1.65%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Century Aluminum will post 10.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jesse E. Gary sold 150,000 shares of Century Aluminum stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.47, for a total transaction of $8,320,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 142,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,908,912.60. The trade was a 51.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Robert F. Hoffman sold 10,529 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.51, for a total value of $594,993.79. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 56,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,200,895.93. This represents a 15.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 251,626 shares of company stock valued at $13,619,411 in the last three months. 0.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Century Aluminum

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in Century Aluminum in the first quarter valued at about $42,000. Private Trust Co. NA bought a new stake in Century Aluminum in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in Century Aluminum in the first quarter valued at about $47,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Century Aluminum in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new position in Century Aluminum in the first quarter valued at approximately $67,000. 61.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.