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

Centrus Energy Corp. (NYSE:LEU)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $170.31, but opened at $181.51. Centrus Energy shares last traded at $187.1110, with a volume of 244,856 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LEU has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Centrus Energy from $224.00 to $218.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 8th. B. Riley Financial decreased their target price on shares of Centrus Energy from $315.00 to $295.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Centrus Energy from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Centrus Energy from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Centrus Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $265.91.

Centrus Energy Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 4.88, a current ratio of 5.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.35, a P/E/G ratio of 20.22 and a beta of 1.34. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $188.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $223.65.

Centrus Energy (NYSE:LEU) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.72. Centrus Energy had a net margin of 13.40% and a return on equity of 13.10%. The company had revenue of $76.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $76.13 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.60 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Centrus Energy Corp. will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Centrus Energy news, CFO Todd M. Tinelli sold 306 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.55, for a total transaction of $62,286.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Centrus Energy

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of LEU. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Centrus Energy by 38.5% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in Centrus Energy by 98.4% in the first quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 2,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $499,000 after buying an additional 1,427 shares in the last quarter. Vestor Capital LLC bought a new position in Centrus Energy in the first quarter valued at about $55,000. Western Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Centrus Energy during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd raised its stake in Centrus Energy by 11.8% during the first quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 3,004 shares of the company’s stock worth $521,000 after acquiring an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.