Century Aluminum Company (NASDAQ:CENX) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Brokerages

Century Aluminum Company (NASDAQ:CENX) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the five ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $80.00.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Century Aluminum from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Century Aluminum from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. B. Riley Financial increased their price target on Century Aluminum from $68.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Wall Street Zen raised Century Aluminum from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $75.00 price target on Century Aluminum and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jesse E. Gary sold 150,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.47, for a total transaction of $8,320,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 142,580 shares in the company, valued at $7,908,912.60. This trade represents a 51.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Robert F. Hoffman sold 10,529 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.51, for a total value of $594,993.79. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 56,643 shares in the company, valued at $3,200,895.93. This trade represents a 15.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 251,626 shares of company stock valued at $13,619,411 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Century Aluminum

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Century Aluminum by 22.1% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 39,001 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $724,000 after buying an additional 7,051 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp purchased a new position in Century Aluminum in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Century Aluminum by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 59,186 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,098,000 after buying an additional 1,069 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in Century Aluminum by 21.2% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 124,001 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,301,000 after buying an additional 21,702 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Century Aluminum by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 147,046 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,650,000 after buying an additional 9,721 shares in the last quarter. 61.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Century Aluminum Stock Performance

Shares of CENX stock opened at $56.82 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.96 and a beta of 1.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.30 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The business has a fifty day moving average of $58.94 and a 200 day moving average of $46.44. Century Aluminum has a 1 year low of $15.13 and a 1 year high of $68.69.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25. The company had revenue of $633.70 million during 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 quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.49 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Century Aluminum will post 10.3 earnings per share for the current 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.