Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Shares Gap Up - Here's What Happened

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $17.38, but opened at $18.31. Century Aluminum shares last traded at $18.62, with a volume of 716,885 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on CENX. Wolfe Research upgraded Century Aluminum from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $27.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. B. Riley raised their target price on Century Aluminum from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com downgraded Century Aluminum from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded Century Aluminum from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $22.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday.

Century Aluminum Trading Down 0.1 %

The stock has a market cap of $1.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.13 and a beta of 2.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 1.71. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $19.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.23.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The industrial products company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $631.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $515.27 million. Century Aluminum had a return on equity of 13.38% and a net margin of 14.69%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.39 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Century Aluminum will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Jesse E. Gary sold 29,243 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 50,753 shares in the company, valued at $962,784.41. The trade was a 36.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Century Aluminum

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CENX. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Century Aluminum in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its position in Century Aluminum by 2,889.3% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 2,511 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing 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 lifted its position 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 valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Olympiad Research LP bought a new stake in Century Aluminum in the third quarter valued at approximately $180,000. Institutional investors own 61.59% of the company's stock.

Century Aluminum Company Profile

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.