Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Shares Down 4.4% - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Century Aluminum's stock fell 4.4% on Monday, trading as low as $22.18, with a significant drop in trading volume compared to its average session.
• Despite the recent drop, Wall Street analysts maintain growth forecasts, with B. Riley raising the target price from $24.00 to $25.00, while Wall Street Zen downgraded its rating from "buy" to "hold."
• The company's quarterly earnings report revealed a miss in earnings per share, posting ($0.05) against estimates of $0.34, although revenue exceeded expectations at $628.10 million.

Century Aluminum Company (NASDAQ:CENX - Get Free Report)'s stock price dropped 4.4% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $22.18 and last traded at $22.24. Approximately 555,861 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 67% from the average daily volume of 1,681,048 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.26.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CENX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Century Aluminum from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 3rd. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Century Aluminum in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Zacks Research raised shares of Century Aluminum from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, B. Riley boosted their target price on shares of Century Aluminum from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $24.67.

Century Aluminum Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 1.75. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $20.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.15 and a beta of 2.53.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). Century Aluminum had a net margin of 4.94% and a return on equity of 18.02%. The business had revenue of $628.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $606.10 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Century Aluminum Company will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Century Aluminum news, SVP Matt Aboud sold 12,027 shares of Century Aluminum stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.27, for a total transaction of $279,868.29. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 62,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,456,446.03. The trade was a 16.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Century Aluminum

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Century Aluminum by 12.9% in the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,414 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of Century Aluminum by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 20,926 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $377,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Century Aluminum by 13.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,418 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its stake in shares of Century Aluminum by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 13,415 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $242,000 after purchasing an additional 979 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Century Aluminum by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 59,186 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,098,000 after purchasing an additional 1,069 shares during the period. 61.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.