Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Earns Hold (C) Rating from Weiss Ratings

Key Points

• Century Aluminum's stock received a "hold (C)" rating from Weiss Ratings, while Zacks Research upgraded it to a "strong-buy" rating recently.
• The company's stock rose 12.5%, trading at $31.60, with a market cap of $2.95 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.24.
• Insider trading activity included senior executives selling shares, with SVP Matt Aboud selling 12,027 shares, reducing their ownership by 16.12%.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "hold (c)" rating reiterated by research analysts at Weiss Ratings in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

CENX has been the topic of a number of other reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Century Aluminum from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Century Aluminum in a research report on Friday, August 8th. B. Riley raised their target price on shares of Century Aluminum from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Century Aluminum in a research report on Tuesday. They set an "overweight" rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Century Aluminum from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $28.50.

Century Aluminum Stock Up 12.5%

Century Aluminum stock traded up $3.51 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $31.60. The company had a trading volume of 2,944,344 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,199,684. The stock has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.24 and a beta of 2.52. Century Aluminum has a 1 year low of $13.05 and a 1 year high of $31.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The business has a fifty day moving average of $24.39 and a 200 day moving average of $20.10.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The industrial products company reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.39). The company had revenue of $628.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $606.10 million. Century Aluminum had a net margin of 4.94% and a return on equity of 18.02%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Century Aluminum will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Century Aluminum news, SVP Matt Aboud sold 12,027 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.27, for a total value of $279,868.29. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 62,589 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,456,446.03. This trade represents a 16.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Agust F. Hafberg sold 9,493 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total value of $264,949.63. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 55,260 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,542,306.60. This trade represents a 14.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Century Aluminum by 1,291.8% during the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,364 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 1,266 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp acquired a new position in shares of Century Aluminum during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Century Aluminum by 253.1% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,822 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 1,306 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in shares of Century Aluminum by 261.8% during the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 4,020 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 2,909 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Century Aluminum by 12.9% during the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,414 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 506 shares during 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.

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