Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX)

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors acquired 5,803 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 286% compared to the average daily volume of 1,502 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Century Aluminum

In other news, CEO Jesse E. Gary sold 29,243 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.97, for a total value of $554,739.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 50,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $962,784.41. This trade represents a 36.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Century Aluminum by 1,607.1% during the third quarter. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC now owns 22,849,097 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $370,841,000 after purchasing an additional 21,510,639 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Century Aluminum by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,279,772 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $20,774,000 after acquiring an additional 13,486 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Century Aluminum by 49.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 959,033 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $15,565,000 after acquiring an additional 319,164 shares during the last quarter. Impala Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Century Aluminum by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Impala Asset Management LLC now owns 904,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $14,672,000 after acquiring an additional 54,000 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Century Aluminum by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 621,300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,084,000 after purchasing an additional 89,621 shares during the last quarter. 61.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Century Aluminum Stock Up 9.2 %

Shares of Century Aluminum stock traded up $1.89 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $22.49. 1,169,307 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,395,723. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $19.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.69. The stock has a market cap of $2.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.56 and a beta of 2.50. Century Aluminum has a 12-month low of $9.65 and a 12-month high of $25.39.

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.