Centrus Energy (NYSE:LEU) Trading Up 8.9% – Should You Buy?

Centrus Energy Corp. (NYSE:LEU)’s share price shot up 8.9% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $193.59 and last traded at $192.8320. Approximately 362,582 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 61% from the average session volume of 929,803 shares. The stock had previously closed at $177.14.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on Centrus Energy from $264.00 to $262.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Centrus Energy in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Roth Capital reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $188.00 price objective on shares of Centrus Energy in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Centrus Energy from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Centrus Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Centrus Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $242.00.

Centrus Energy Trading Up 1.8%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 5.39 and a quick ratio of 4.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.81 billion, a PE ratio of 86.30, a P/E/G ratio of 24.87 and a beta of 1.36. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $174.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $187.88.

Centrus Energy (NYSE:LEU) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $1.03. Centrus Energy had a net margin of 10.23% and a return on equity of 7.06%. The business had revenue of $176.10 million for the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.59 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Centrus Energy Corp. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centrus Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LEU. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Centrus Energy by 18,161.4% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,580,331 shares of the company’s stock worth $601,030,000 after buying an additional 3,560,725 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Centrus Energy by 126.0% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 371,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,265,000 after acquiring an additional 207,316 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Centrus Energy by 43.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 473,145 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,861,000 after purchasing an additional 143,069 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Centrus Energy by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 895,867 shares of the company’s stock worth $217,481,000 after purchasing an additional 114,881 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Centrus Energy by 217.4% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 160,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,868,000 after purchasing an additional 109,960 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.96% of the company’s stock.

Centrus Energy Company Profile

Centrus Energy Corp is a U.S.-based supplier of nuclear fuel and enrichment services, specializing in the production of low-enriched uranium (LEU) for commercial power reactors and highly enriched uranium for naval propulsion. Through its Centrus Global subsidiary, the company provides technical support, fuel fabrication services and recycled uranium products to utilities operating light-water reactors. Centrus also develops advanced centrifuge technologies aimed at improving enrichment efficiency and reducing the cost of nuclear fuel.

Originally founded as the United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC) in 1998 following a spin-out from the U.S.