Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Trading 7.5% Higher - Should You Buy?

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX - Get Free Report) traded up 7.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $19.65 and last traded at $19.93. 1,472,639 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 11% from the average session volume of 1,663,581 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.55.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CENX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Century Aluminum from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $22.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday. B. Riley upped their price target on shares of Century Aluminum from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. 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 report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Century Aluminum from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday.

Century Aluminum Stock Down 3.4 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $19.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.23. The company has a market cap of $1.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.93 and a beta of 2.50.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Century Aluminum news, CEO Jesse E. Gary sold 29,243 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.97, for a total transaction of $554,739.71. Following the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Century Aluminum in the 4th quarter worth about $2,197,000. Perennial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Century Aluminum during the 4th quarter worth approximately $535,000. Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Century Aluminum in the fourth quarter worth approximately $225,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its holdings in shares of Century Aluminum by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 131,183 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,390,000 after purchasing an additional 13,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Century Aluminum by 44.5% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 15,893 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $290,000 after buying an additional 4,896 shares during the last quarter. 61.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.