Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Shares Up 5% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Century Aluminum Company (NASDAQ:CENX) shot up 5% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $31.81 and last traded at $31.8050. 206,848 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 1,819,934 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.29.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CENX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Century Aluminum in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Century Aluminum from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. B. Riley boosted their price objective 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. Zacks Research raised Century Aluminum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Century Aluminum from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Century Aluminum currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.00.

Century Aluminum Stock Up 7.2%

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $29.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $3.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.08 and a beta of 2.28.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.56 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $632.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $629.85 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Century Aluminum Company will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Century Aluminum news, SVP Agust F. Hafberg sold 9,493 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total value of $264,949.63. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 55,260 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,542,306.60. This trade represents a 14.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CENX. Boston Partners increased its stake 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 worth $31,248,000 after buying an additional 1,339,744 shares during the period. Sourcerock Group LLC boosted its holdings in Century Aluminum by 612.0% in the second quarter. Sourcerock Group LLC now owns 1,424,088 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $25,662,000 after purchasing an additional 1,224,088 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new position in Century Aluminum in the first quarter valued at about $19,317,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Century Aluminum during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $14,726,000. Finally, Encompass Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Century Aluminum during the 1st quarter worth approximately $13,920,000. 61.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Century Aluminum

Century Aluminum Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the production of standard-grade and value-added primary aluminum products in the United States and Iceland. It also owns and operates an alumina production facility in Iceland, and a carbon anode production facility in the Netherlands.