Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Reaches New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $24.09 and last traded at $23.87, with a volume of 247135 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $21.12.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CENX has been the subject of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Century Aluminum from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. B. Riley raised their price objective 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Century Aluminum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 9th.

Century Aluminum Trading Up 7.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 1.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.57 and a beta of 2.47. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $16.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $16.45.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $587.10 million. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.13) earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Century Aluminum will post 0.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its position in Century Aluminum by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 45,288 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $697,000 after purchasing an additional 1,102 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Century Aluminum during the first quarter valued at $601,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in Century Aluminum by 7,779.8% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 7,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $108,000 after acquiring an additional 6,924 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC bought a new position in Century Aluminum in the first quarter valued at about $163,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Century Aluminum by 0.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,819,805 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $89,567,000 after purchasing an additional 39,900 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.