Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Short Interest Down 12.8% in January

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,300,000 shares, a decrease of 12.8% from the January 15th total of 4,930,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,230,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.5 days. Currently, 8.4% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Century Aluminum Price Performance

CENX stock traded up $0.90 on Tuesday, reaching $21.84. 1,666,418 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,507,267. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $19.38 and a 200-day moving average of $17.97. Century Aluminum has a twelve month low of $9.65 and a twelve month high of $25.39. The firm has a market cap of $2.03 billion, a PE ratio of 7.30 and a beta of 2.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Insider Transactions at Century Aluminum

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

Institutional Trading of Century Aluminum

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Century Aluminum by 49.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 959,033 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $15,565,000 after purchasing an additional 319,164 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Century Aluminum by 266.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 97,396 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,581,000 after purchasing an additional 70,825 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew 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 purchasing an additional 43,881 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Century Aluminum in the fourth quarter valued at $337,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 89,621 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.59% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on CENX. B. Riley upped their price target on Century Aluminum from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Wolfe Research raised 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. StockNews.com raised Century Aluminum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Century Aluminum from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th.

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.