Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 43,881 Shares of Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 301,992 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 43,881 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.33% of Century Aluminum worth $4,901,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CENX. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $370,841,000 after acquiring an additional 21,510,639 shares during the period. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Century Aluminum by 1,208.7% in the 2nd quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,401,638 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $23,477,000 after purchasing an additional 1,294,538 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Century Aluminum by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,279,772 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $20,774,000 after buying an additional 13,486 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Century Aluminum by 30.4% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,186,243 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $19,870,000 after buying an additional 276,304 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Impala Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Century Aluminum by 6.4% in the third quarter. Impala Asset Management LLC now owns 904,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $14,672,000 after buying an additional 54,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.59% of the company’s stock.

Century Aluminum Price Performance

NASDAQ:CENX opened at $17.93 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.00 and a beta of 2.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.37. Century Aluminum has a 1 year low of $9.65 and a 1 year high of $25.39.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jesse E. Gary sold 29,243 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $962,784.41. This represents a 36.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. B. Riley lifted their price target on shares of Century Aluminum from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Century Aluminum from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wolfe Research upgraded Century Aluminum from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Century Aluminum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 9th.

Century Aluminum 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.