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

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $20.04, but opened at $18.86. Century Aluminum shares last traded at $18.47, with a volume of 917,910 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on CENX. StockNews.com raised Century Aluminum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 9th. Wolfe Research raised 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Century Aluminum from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, B. Riley upped their price target on Century Aluminum from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th.

Century Aluminum Trading Down 13.3 %

The company has a market capitalization of $1.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.50 and a beta of 2.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $19.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The industrial products company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $515.27 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.39 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Century Aluminum will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Century Aluminum

In other Century Aluminum news, CEO Jesse E. Gary sold 29,243 shares of Century Aluminum stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 50,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $962,784.41. The trade was a 36.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CENX. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Century Aluminum by 159.2% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,256 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Century Aluminum during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Century Aluminum by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,115 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $524,000 after purchasing an additional 2,198 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Century Aluminum by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 411,589 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,499,000 after purchasing an additional 2,358 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC raised its holdings in Century Aluminum by 2,889.3% in the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 2,511 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 2,427 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 61.59% of the company’s stock.

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.