Centrus Energy (NYSE:LEU) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Centrus Energy Corp. (NYSE:LEU)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $286.25, but opened at $304.99. Centrus Energy shares last traded at $315.9560, with a volume of 465,662 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LEU has been the topic of a number of research reports. Northland Securities set a $325.00 target price on Centrus Energy in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group set a $245.00 price target on shares of Centrus Energy in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. B. Riley upped their price objective on shares of Centrus Energy from $221.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Centrus Energy in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Centrus Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $253.33.

Centrus Energy Stock Performance

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $267.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $258.38. The stock has a market cap of $5.60 billion, a PE ratio of 46.77 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.23, a quick ratio of 2.79 and a current ratio of 3.46.

Centrus Energy (NYSE:LEU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.17). Centrus Energy had a net margin of 25.04% and a return on equity of 37.14%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 29.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.30) earnings per share. Analysts expect that Centrus Energy Corp. will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LEU. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Centrus Energy by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,072,118 shares of the company’s stock worth $332,432,000 after buying an additional 86,509 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 58,634 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Centrus Energy by 25.9% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 780,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $242,161,000 after buying an additional 160,482 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Centrus Energy by 78.8% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 442,261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,132,000 after purchasing an additional 194,909 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Centrus Energy by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 358,799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,260,000 after buying an additional 10,333 shares in the last quarter. 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.