Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Century Aluminum Company (NASDAQ:CENX)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday after B. Riley raised their price target on the stock from $37.00 to $64.00. The stock had previously closed at $47.32, but opened at $50.90. B. Riley currently has a buy rating on the stock. Century Aluminum shares last traded at $50.2580, with a volume of 400,519 shares trading hands.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Zacks Research lowered Century Aluminum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Century Aluminum from $46.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Century Aluminum in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Century Aluminum from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Century Aluminum presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Century Aluminum

In other news, CEO Jesse E. Gary sold 150,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.19, for a total value of $7,228,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 292,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,099,430.20. This trade represents a 33.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Century Aluminum

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Truist Financial Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Century Aluminum during the fourth quarter worth approximately $311,000. Sigma Planning Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Century Aluminum in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,249,000. Wealth High Governance Capital Ltda raised its holdings in shares of Century Aluminum by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Wealth High Governance Capital Ltda now owns 152,566 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,978,000 after purchasing an additional 2,566 shares in the last quarter. PVG Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Century Aluminum in the 4th quarter valued at $205,000. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA purchased a new stake in shares of Century Aluminum during the 4th quarter worth $373,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.59% of the company’s stock.

Century Aluminum Trading Up 5.7%

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 stock has a market cap of $4.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.19 and a beta of 2.26. The business’s 50 day moving average is $39.24 and its 200 day moving average is $30.77.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). The business had revenue of $632.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $629.85 million. Century Aluminum had a return on equity of 12.83% and a net margin of 3.47%.The company’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Century Aluminum Company will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.