Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Shares Up 9.2% - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Century Aluminum's shares surged 9.2% during trading on Wednesday, reaching a high of $31.02, although overall trading volume was 72% lower than average.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Century Aluminum, with Wells Fargo setting a price target of $37.00, while Zacks upgraded the stock to a "strong-buy," contrasting with a downgrade to "hold" by Wall Street Zen.
• The company reported a loss of $0.05 per share in its recent quarterly earnings, significantly missing analysts' expectations, despite revenue exceeding estimates at $628.10 million.

Shares of Century Aluminum Company (NASDAQ:CENX - Get Free Report) shot up 9.2% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $31.02 and last traded at $30.69. 473,034 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 1,700,721 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.09.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CENX. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Century Aluminum in a research report on Tuesday. They set an "overweight" rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen cut Century Aluminum from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 3rd. Zacks Research raised Century Aluminum from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. B. Riley upped their target price on Century Aluminum from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Century Aluminum in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $28.50.

Century Aluminum Stock Up 11.6%

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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.02. The stock has a market cap of $2.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.99 and a beta of 2.52.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Matt Aboud sold 12,027 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.27, for a total transaction of $279,868.29. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 62,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,456,446.03. This trade represents a 16.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Agust F. Hafberg sold 9,493 shares of Century Aluminum stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total value of $264,949.63. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 55,260 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,542,306.60. The trade was a 14.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Century Aluminum

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Century Aluminum by 103.1% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 407,939 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $11,977,000 after acquiring an additional 207,040 shares in the last quarter. Praxis Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Century Aluminum during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $228,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Century Aluminum by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 16,772 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its holdings in shares of Century Aluminum by 139.8% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 252,331 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $4,547,000 after purchasing an additional 147,087 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of Century Aluminum in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,396,000. 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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