JPMorgan Chase & Co. Boosts Stake in Century Aluminum Company $CENX

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Century Aluminum Company (NASDAQ:CENX) by 188.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 424,252 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 277,206 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Century Aluminum were worth $12,456,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CENX. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Century Aluminum by 13.2% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,665,546 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $66,053,000 after buying an additional 426,306 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of Century Aluminum by 340.1% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,733,668 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,248,000 after acquiring an additional 1,339,744 shares during the period. Sourcerock Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Century Aluminum by 612.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sourcerock Group LLC now owns 1,424,088 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $25,662,000 after acquiring an additional 1,224,088 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Century Aluminum by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,300,691 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $23,443,000 after purchasing an additional 6,397 shares during the period. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its position in shares of Century Aluminum by 155.5% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 541,111 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,751,000 after purchasing an additional 329,298 shares during the period. 61.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CENX. Zacks Research raised Century Aluminum from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Century Aluminum in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. B. Riley Financial raised their target price on Century Aluminum from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Century Aluminum from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Century Aluminum from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Century Aluminum currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $54.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jesse E. Gary sold 150,000 shares of Century Aluminum stock in a transaction on Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.19, for a total transaction of $7,228,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 292,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,099,430.20. The trade was a 33.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP John Dezee sold 66,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.72, for a total transaction of $3,347,520.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 97,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,952,655.84. The trade was a 40.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 231,097 shares of company stock worth $11,369,118 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Century Aluminum Trading Up 0.9%

CENX opened at $53.90 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $47.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Century Aluminum Company has a 12 month low of $13.05 and a 12 month high of $56.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 134.75 and a beta of 2.17.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.25. Century Aluminum had a return on equity of 5.57% and a net margin of 1.65%.The business had revenue of $633.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $661.63 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.49 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Century Aluminum Company will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Century Aluminum 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.