Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Downgraded to Sell Rating by StockNews.com

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on CENX. Wolfe Research raised shares of Century Aluminum from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. B. Riley lifted their target price on Century Aluminum from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Century Aluminum from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday.

Century Aluminum Stock Performance

Shares of CENX stock traded up $1.17 on Monday, hitting $18.55. 2,623,216 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,672,869. Century Aluminum has a one year low of $9.65 and a one year high of $25.39. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $19.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.72 billion, a PE 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The industrial products company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $631.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $515.27 million. Century Aluminum had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 13.38%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.39 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Century Aluminum will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Century Aluminum news, CEO Jesse E. Gary sold 29,243 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 50,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $962,784.41. The trade was a 36.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Century Aluminum

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Perennial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Century Aluminum in the fourth quarter valued at $535,000. Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Century Aluminum in the 4th quarter worth about $225,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in shares of Century Aluminum by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 131,183 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,390,000 after purchasing an additional 13,900 shares during the last quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Century Aluminum during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,197,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in Century Aluminum by 44.5% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 15,893 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $290,000 after buying an additional 4,896 shares during the last quarter. 61.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.