Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Shares Down 6.9% – Should You Sell?

Century Aluminum Company (NASDAQ:CENX)’s stock price fell 6.9% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $48.65 and last traded at $48.66. 1,396,611 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 36% from the average daily volume of 2,178,126 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.29.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on CENX. Weiss Ratings cut Century Aluminum from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. UBS Group started coverage on Century Aluminum in a research note on Monday. They set a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut Century Aluminum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 4th. Zacks Research lowered Century Aluminum from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Century Aluminum from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.00.

Century Aluminum Trading Down 5.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.75 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The business has a 50 day moving average of $49.10 and a 200 day moving average of $53.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.56 and a beta of 1.96.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $2.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $752.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $817.15 million. Century Aluminum had a return on equity of 33.83% and a net margin of 22.63%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 59.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Century Aluminum Company will post 8.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Century Aluminum

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CENX. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Century Aluminum in the second quarter worth $474,129,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Century Aluminum by 18.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,939,794 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $271,901,000 after buying an additional 1,094,257 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Century Aluminum by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,295,711 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $168,306,000 after buying an additional 77,895 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Century Aluminum by 109.7% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,830,324 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $107,422,000 after buying an additional 957,571 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Century Aluminum by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,609,093 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $63,044,000 after buying an additional 176,730 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.59% of the company’s stock.

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.