Century Aluminum Company (NASDAQ:CENX) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Century Aluminum Company (NASDAQ:CENX) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the five analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $36.00.

CENX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Century Aluminum from $37.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Century Aluminum in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. B. Riley increased their target price on shares of Century Aluminum from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Century Aluminum from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Century Aluminum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 4th.

Century Aluminum Stock Up 4.8%

Century Aluminum stock opened at $38.97 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.64 billion, a PE ratio of 45.85 and a beta of 2.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.71. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $30.54 and a 200 day moving average of $25.46. Century Aluminum has a one year low of $13.05 and a one year high of $39.78.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.79 by ($0.23). Century Aluminum had a net margin of 3.47% and a return on equity of 12.83%. The business had revenue of $632.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $629.85 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. Century Aluminum’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Century Aluminum will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Century Aluminum

In other news, SVP Agust F. Hafberg sold 9,493 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total value of $264,949.63. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 55,260 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,542,306.60. This represents a 14.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Century Aluminum

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Century Aluminum by 1.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,845,537 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $171,625,000 after purchasing an additional 75,657 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Century Aluminum by 13.2% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,665,546 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $66,053,000 after buying an additional 426,306 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in Century Aluminum by 340.1% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,733,668 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,248,000 after buying an additional 1,339,744 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in Century Aluminum by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,457,401 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,789,000 after buying an additional 27,999 shares during the period. Finally, Sourcerock Group LLC grew its stake in Century Aluminum by 612.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sourcerock Group LLC now owns 1,424,088 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $25,662,000 after acquiring an additional 1,224,088 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.59% of the company’s stock.

About Century Aluminum

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.