Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Stock Price Down 6.9% - Here's What Happened

Shares of Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX - Get Free Report) were down 6.9% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $20.39 and last traded at $20.25. Approximately 1,218,169 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 16% from the average daily volume of 1,455,772 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.76.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on CENX shares. B. Riley upped their price objective on Century Aluminum from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Century Aluminum from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Century Aluminum from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, November 9th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Century Aluminum from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $27.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd.

Century Aluminum Trading Down 2.1 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $19.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.00 and a beta of 2.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Century Aluminum

In other Century Aluminum news, CEO Jesse E. Gary sold 29,243 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CENX. Glencore plc purchased a new position in Century Aluminum in the fourth quarter valued at $729,427,000. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC increased its holdings in Century Aluminum by 1,607.1% in the third quarter. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC now owns 22,849,097 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $370,841,000 after buying an additional 21,510,639 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Century Aluminum by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,937,970 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $53,531,000 after purchasing an additional 28,557 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 13,486 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Century Aluminum by 49.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 959,033 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $15,565,000 after purchasing an additional 319,164 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.