Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Upgraded to Outperform at BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note published on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $22.00 target price on the industrial products company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also commented on CENX. B. Riley raised their price target on shares of Century Aluminum from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Century Aluminum from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Century Aluminum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 9th.

Century Aluminum Stock Performance

CENX stock opened at $18.55 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.16. Century Aluminum has a 12-month low of $9.65 and a 12-month high of $25.39. The firm has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.87 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.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The industrial products company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $631.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $515.27 million. Century Aluminum had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 13.38%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.39 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Century Aluminum will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Jesse E. Gary sold 29,243 shares of Century Aluminum stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.97, for a total value of $554,739.71. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 50,753 shares in the company, valued at $962,784.41. The trade was a 36.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Century Aluminum

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Century Aluminum by 49.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 959,033 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $15,565,000 after acquiring an additional 319,164 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Century Aluminum by 266.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 97,396 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,581,000 after acquiring an additional 70,825 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Century Aluminum by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 301,992 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,901,000 after acquiring an additional 43,881 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Century Aluminum in the 4th quarter valued at about $337,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Century Aluminum by 16.9% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 621,300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,084,000 after purchasing an additional 89,621 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.59% of the company’s stock.

Century Aluminum Company 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.