Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Shares Down 5.9% – Time to Sell?

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) shares were down 5.9% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $22.31 and last traded at $22.50. Approximately 167,014 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 1,314,486 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.92.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CENX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. B. Riley boosted their price objective on Century Aluminum from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Century Aluminum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 9th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Century Aluminum from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Century Aluminum from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th.

Century Aluminum Stock Down 5.0 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.11 billion, a PE ratio of 7.60 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. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.04.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $539.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $587.10 million. Century Aluminum had a net margin of 14.60% and a return on equity of 11.37%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.13) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Century Aluminum will post 0.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Century Aluminum

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in Century Aluminum by 104.1% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 2,716 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 1,385 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,233 shares during the last quarter. Olympiad Research LP purchased a new position in shares of Century Aluminum during the third quarter valued at approximately $180,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in shares of Century Aluminum during the third quarter valued at approximately $189,000. Finally, MQS Management LLC lifted its stake in Century Aluminum by 8.1% in the second quarter. MQS Management LLC now owns 11,792 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $198,000 after acquiring an additional 883 shares during the period. 61.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.