Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Hits New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on the stock from $16.00 to $18.00. BMO Capital Markets currently has a market perform rating on the stock. Century Aluminum traded as high as $22.29 and last traded at $22.29, with a volume of 805694 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $21.05.

Several other analysts have also commented on CENX. B. Riley raised their price objective on Century Aluminum from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Century Aluminum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in Century Aluminum during the third quarter worth about $256,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Century Aluminum by 36.5% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 26,977 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $438,000 after buying an additional 7,212 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Century Aluminum by 612.1% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 13,993 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $227,000 after buying an additional 12,028 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Century Aluminum by 17.0% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Olympiad Research LP purchased a new position in Century Aluminum in the third quarter worth approximately $180,000. 61.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Century Aluminum Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The company has a market cap of $2.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.12 and a beta of 2.47. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.21.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $539.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $587.10 million. Century Aluminum had a negative return on equity of 0.04% and a net margin of 10.32%. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.13) EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Century Aluminum will post 0.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.