Short Interest in Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Increases By 11.1%

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,700,000 shares, an increase of 11.1% from the November 30th total of 4,230,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,080,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.4 days. Approximately 9.1% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CENX. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Century Aluminum from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com upgraded Century Aluminum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 9th. B. Riley lifted their price target on Century Aluminum from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Century Aluminum from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Jesse E. Gary sold 29,243 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.97, for a total value of $554,739.71. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 50,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $962,784.41. This trade represents a 36.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CENX. Aristeia Capital L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Century Aluminum during the second quarter worth approximately $681,000. Barclays PLC boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 70,825 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position 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 worth $4,901,000 after purchasing an additional 43,881 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Century Aluminum in the third quarter valued at $475,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings 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 valued at $10,084,000 after buying an additional 89,621 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.59% of the company’s stock.

Century Aluminum Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ CENX traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $18.22. The company had a trading volume of 826,421 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,294,750. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.36. Century Aluminum has a 52-week low of $9.65 and a 52-week high of $25.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market cap of $1.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 2.50.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.31. Century Aluminum had a return on equity of 11.37% and a net margin of 14.60%. The company had revenue of $539.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $587.10 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.13) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Century Aluminum will post 0.56 earnings per share for the current 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.