Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Shares Up 11.5% – Time to Buy?

Century Aluminum Company (NASDAQ:CENX)’s stock price was up 11.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $58.74 and last traded at $59.3980. Approximately 678,597 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 2,433,730 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.25.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Century Aluminum in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Century Aluminum from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Century Aluminum from $61.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Zacks Research raised Century Aluminum from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, B. Riley Financial increased their price target on shares of Century Aluminum from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Century Aluminum presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.00.

Century Aluminum Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $6.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 158.78 and a beta of 1.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.97. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $51.52 and its 200 day moving average is $39.50.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.25. Century Aluminum had a return on equity of 5.57% and a net margin of 1.65%.The firm had revenue of $633.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $661.63 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.49 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Century Aluminum Company will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Century Aluminum news, SVP Matt Aboud sold 12,126 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.50, for a total transaction of $636,615.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 67,814 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,560,235. This trade represents a 15.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP John Dezee sold 66,000 shares of Century Aluminum stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.72, for a total transaction of $3,347,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 97,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,952,655.84. The trade was a 40.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 401,626 shares of company stock valued at $20,847,911 over the last 90 days. 0.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Century Aluminum

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Glencore plc lifted its position in Century Aluminum by 33.6% in the 4th quarter. Glencore plc now owns 53,511,894 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,096,596,000 after acquiring an additional 13,454,538 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Century Aluminum by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,939,794 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $271,901,000 after purchasing an additional 1,094,257 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 77,895 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Century Aluminum by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,609,093 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $63,044,000 after purchasing an additional 176,730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Century Aluminum by 2.0% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 27,999 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.