Zacks Research Upgrades Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) to “Strong-Buy”

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) was upgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on CENX. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Century Aluminum in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. B. Riley boosted their target price on shares of Century Aluminum from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Century Aluminum currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.00.

Century Aluminum Stock Performance

Shares of Century Aluminum stock opened at $42.23 on Monday. Century Aluminum has a one year low of $13.05 and a one year high of $45.58. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.00. The company has a market cap of $3.94 billion, a PE ratio of 49.68 and a beta of 2.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.71.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.79 by ($0.23). The company 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%.Century Aluminum’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.63 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Century Aluminum will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Century Aluminum

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of Century Aluminum by 340.1% in the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,733,668 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,248,000 after acquiring an additional 1,339,744 shares during the last quarter. 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 acquiring an additional 1,224,088 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new stake in Century Aluminum during the first quarter worth about $19,317,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Century Aluminum by 392.3% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 767,692 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $22,539,000 after purchasing an additional 611,758 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in Century Aluminum in the second quarter valued at approximately $9,399,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.59% of the company’s stock.

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.