Century Aluminum Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:CENX)

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Investors purchased 7,268 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 473% compared to the average daily volume of 1,269 put options.

Century Aluminum Stock Performance

Century Aluminum stock opened at $21.76 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $2.02 billion, a PE ratio of 7.28 and a beta of 2.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Century Aluminum has a 1 year low of $9.65 and a 1 year high of $25.39. The company’s 50-day moving average is $19.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.73.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Activity at Century Aluminum

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Century Aluminum

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CENX. AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in shares of Century Aluminum by 2,889.3% in the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 2,511 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 2,427 shares during the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Century Aluminum in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Century Aluminum by 159.2% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,256 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Century Aluminum by 39.6% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,347 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 1,233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Olympiad Research LP acquired a new position in shares of Century Aluminum in the 3rd quarter valued at $180,000. 61.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.