Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Stock Price Up 9.1% – Still a Buy?

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) shot up 9.1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $18.86 and last traded at $18.86. 476,087 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 34% from the average session volume of 719,511 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.29.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CENX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. B. Riley upped their price target on shares of Century Aluminum from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Century Aluminum from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com raised Century Aluminum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 9th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Century Aluminum from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd.

Century Aluminum Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a PE ratio of 6.25 and a beta of 2.53. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 1.71.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $539.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $587.10 million. Century Aluminum had a return on equity of 11.37% and a net margin of 14.60%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.13) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Century Aluminum will post 0.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Century Aluminum

In other news, CEO Jesse E. Gary sold 29,243 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.97, for a total value of $554,739.71. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 50,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $962,784.41. This represents a 36.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CENX. MQS Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Century Aluminum by 8.1% in the 2nd quarter. MQS Management LLC now owns 11,792 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $198,000 after acquiring an additional 883 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Century Aluminum by 39.6% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,347 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 1,233 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in Century Aluminum by 5.0% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 27,893 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $467,000 after purchasing an additional 1,335 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC lifted its stake in Century Aluminum by 104.1% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 2,716 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 1,385 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Century Aluminum by 0.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 366,804 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,144,000 after buying an additional 1,641 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.59% of the company’s stock.

About Century Aluminum

Century Aluminum Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the production of standard-grade and value-added primary aluminum products in the United States and Iceland. It also owns and operates an alumina production facility in Iceland, and a carbon anode production facility in the Netherlands.