Centrus Energy (NYSE:LEU) Raised to Moderate Buy at Needham & Company LLC

Centrus Energy (NYSE:LEU) was upgraded by Needham & Company LLC to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group decreased their target price on Centrus Energy from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Centrus Energy from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Centrus Energy from $240.00 to $205.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Centrus Energy from $224.00 to $218.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Centrus Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $255.45.

Centrus Energy Stock Up 4.5%

LEU opened at $174.01 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.42 billion, a PE ratio of 57.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 20.34 and a beta of 1.35. Centrus Energy has a twelve month low of $144.65 and a twelve month high of $464.25. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $179.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $214.22. The company has a quick ratio of 4.88, a current ratio of 5.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52.

Centrus Energy (NYSE:LEU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.72. Centrus Energy had a return on equity of 13.10% and a net margin of 13.40%.The company had revenue of $76.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $76.13 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.60 EPS. Centrus Energy’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Centrus Energy will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Todd M. Tinelli sold 306 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.55, for a total value of $62,286.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Centrus Energy

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LEU. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Centrus Energy by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,086,443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $263,745,000 after buying an additional 14,325 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Centrus Energy by 6.7% in the third quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 936,477 shares of the company’s stock worth $290,376,000 after acquiring an additional 58,634 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Centrus Energy by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 895,867 shares of the company’s stock worth $217,481,000 after acquiring an additional 114,881 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Centrus Energy by 43.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 473,145 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,861,000 after acquiring an additional 143,069 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Centrus Energy by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 414,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,746,000 after purchasing an additional 29,857 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.96% of the company’s stock.

Centrus Energy Company Profile

Centrus Energy Corp is a U.S.-based supplier of nuclear fuel and enrichment services, specializing in the production of low-enriched uranium (LEU) for commercial power reactors and highly enriched uranium for naval propulsion. Through its Centrus Global subsidiary, the company provides technical support, fuel fabrication services and recycled uranium products to utilities operating light-water reactors. Centrus also develops advanced centrifuge technologies aimed at improving enrichment efficiency and reducing the cost of nuclear fuel.

Originally founded as the United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC) in 1998 following a spin-out from the U.S.