Analysts Set Century Aluminum Company (NASDAQ:CENX) Target Price at $80.00

Century Aluminum Company (NASDAQ:CENX) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the five research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $80.00.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CENX shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Century Aluminum from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. Weiss Ratings upgraded Century Aluminum from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. BMO Capital Markets set a $75.00 price objective on Century Aluminum and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Century Aluminum from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Century Aluminum from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP John Dezee sold 66,000 shares of Century Aluminum stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.72, for a total value of $3,347,520.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Matt Aboud sold 12,126 shares of Century Aluminum stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.50, for a total value of $636,615.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 67,814 shares in the company, valued at $3,560,235. The trade was a 15.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 251,626 shares of company stock valued at $13,619,411. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Century Aluminum

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CENX. Jones Financial Companies Lllp bought a new position in Century Aluminum during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Private Trust Co. NA bought a new position in Century Aluminum during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new position in Century Aluminum during the first quarter valued at about $29,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Century Aluminum by 253.1% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,822 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,306 shares during the period. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in Century Aluminum during the third quarter valued at about $34,000. 61.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Century Aluminum Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CENX opened at $58.78 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 2.30. The firm has a market cap of $5.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.55 and a beta of 1.91. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.15. Century Aluminum has a 52 week low of $15.13 and a 52 week high of $68.69.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25. The business had revenue of $633.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $661.63 million. Century Aluminum had a return on equity of 13.59% and a net margin of 13.75%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Century Aluminum will post 10.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.