Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Trading Down 10.3% – Time to Sell?

Century Aluminum Company (NASDAQ:CENX) traded down 10.3% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $42.00 and last traded at $40.9480. 1,800,118 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 17% from the average daily volume of 2,173,521 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.66.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CENX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. B. Riley Financial reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Century Aluminum in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings lowered Century Aluminum from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. UBS Group assumed coverage on Century Aluminum in a report on Monday, August 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $60.00 target price for the company. Zacks Research downgraded Century Aluminum from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Century Aluminum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.00.

Century Aluminum Trading Down 8.9%

The company has a market capitalization of $4.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.15 and a beta of 1.96. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $47.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $2.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.33 by $0.13. Century Aluminum had a return on equity of 33.83% and a net margin of 22.63%.The business had revenue of $752.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $817.15 million. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 59.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Century Aluminum Company will post 8.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Century Aluminum

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CENX. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Century Aluminum by 45.0% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 548,898 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $25,255,000 after acquiring an additional 170,451 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in Century Aluminum in the 2nd quarter worth $2,118,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Century Aluminum during the 2nd quarter worth about $22,369,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Century Aluminum during the 2nd quarter worth about $125,000. Finally, Parallax Volatility Advisers L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Century Aluminum during the second quarter valued at about $461,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.