Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Short Interest Up 10.0% in August

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,820,000 shares, an increase of 10.0% from the August 15th total of 5,290,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,400,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.2 days. Approximately 11.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CENX has been the subject of several research reports. B. Riley lowered their target price on Century Aluminum from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Century Aluminum from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Century Aluminum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th.

Century Aluminum Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of Century Aluminum stock traded down $0.34 on Wednesday, reaching $14.21. The stock had a trading volume of 738,110 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,388,501. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.62 and a beta of 2.48. Century Aluminum has a 1 year low of $5.70 and a 1 year high of $21.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $14.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.65.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The industrial products company reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.02 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $560.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $530.90 million. Century Aluminum had a negative return on equity of 0.04% and a net margin of 10.32%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Century Aluminum will post 0.07 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Century Aluminum

In related news, CEO Jesse E. Gary sold 60,000 shares of Century Aluminum stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.21, for a total value of $972,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 62,447 shares in the company, valued at $1,012,265.87. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Century Aluminum

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CENX. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Century Aluminum by 13,746.2% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 1,787 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Century Aluminum by 104.1% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 2,716 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 1,385 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Century Aluminum by 199.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,878 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 1,918 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Century Aluminum by 7,779.8% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 7,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 6,924 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capstone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Century Aluminum during the first quarter valued at $161,000. 61.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.