Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Reaches New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Century Aluminum Company (NASDAQ:CENX) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $41.10 and last traded at $41.30, with a volume of 284011 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $39.18.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CENX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Century Aluminum from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Century Aluminum from $37.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 23rd. B. Riley lifted their target price on shares of Century Aluminum from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Century Aluminum in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Century Aluminum presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.00.

Century Aluminum Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $31.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.58 and a beta of 2.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

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

Institutional Trading of Century Aluminum

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Century Aluminum in the fourth quarter valued at about $6,036,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Century Aluminum by 188.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 424,252 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $12,456,000 after purchasing an additional 277,206 shares in the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Century Aluminum during the third quarter worth approximately $209,000. Cambria Investment Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Century Aluminum by 25.0% during the third quarter. Cambria Investment Management L.P. now owns 29,842 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $876,000 after purchasing an additional 5,967 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in Century Aluminum in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. 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.