Investors Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX)

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 5,803 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 286% compared to the average daily volume of 1,502 call options.

Insider Activity

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Century Aluminum

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Century Aluminum by 39.6% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,347 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 1,233 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Century Aluminum by 5.0% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 27,893 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $467,000 after acquiring an additional 1,335 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Century Aluminum in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Century Aluminum by 7.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,115 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $524,000 after buying an additional 2,198 shares during the last quarter. 61.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Century Aluminum from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, November 9th. BMO Capital Markets upped 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 report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, B. Riley upped their target price 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.

Century Aluminum Trading Down 2.6 %

Century Aluminum stock traded down $0.57 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $20.82. The stock had a trading volume of 810,498 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,482,725. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Century Aluminum has a 52-week low of $9.65 and a 52-week high of $25.39. The firm has a market cap of $1.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.98 and a beta of 2.50. The company has a fifty day moving average of $19.45 and a 200 day moving average of $17.77.

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.