Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Upgraded by Zacks Research to "Strong-Buy" Rating

Key Points

• Zacks Research upgraded Century Aluminum (CENX) from "hold" to Strong-Buy in a report issued Tuesday.
• Several other firms have raised ratings and targets recently — the consensus analyst rating is Buy with a $79.33 average price target (individual targets up to $86).
• CENX reported quarterly EPS of $1.25 (in line with estimates) while revenue slightly missed expectations; the stock trades around $62.62 with a $6.2B market cap, insiders sold roughly 251,626 shares (~$13.6M) last quarter, and institutions own about 61.6%.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on CENX. Wall Street Zen upgraded Century Aluminum from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Weiss Ratings upgraded Century Aluminum from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. BMO Capital Markets set a $75.00 price target on Century Aluminum and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. B. Riley Financial boosted their price target on Century Aluminum from $68.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Century Aluminum from $69.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Century Aluminum has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $79.33.

Century Aluminum Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of CENX opened at $62.62 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.97. Century Aluminum has a one year low of $14.77 and a one year high of $68.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 156.55 and a beta of 1.91. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $57.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.09.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.25. Century Aluminum had a return on equity of 5.57% and a net margin of 1.65%.The firm had revenue of $633.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $661.63 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.49 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Century Aluminum will post 10.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Century Aluminum news, SVP Matt Aboud sold 2,971 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.67, for a total value of $156,482.57. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 64,843 shares in the company, valued at $3,415,280.81. This represents a 4.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Robert F. Hoffman sold 10,529 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.51, for a total transaction of $594,993.79. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 56,643 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,200,895.93. This trade represents a 15.67% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 251,626 shares of company stock valued at $13,619,411 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Century Aluminum

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Glencore plc increased its holdings in shares of Century Aluminum by 33.6% during the 4th quarter. Glencore plc now owns 53,511,894 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,096,596,000 after buying an additional 13,454,538 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Century Aluminum by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,939,794 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $271,901,000 after buying an additional 1,094,257 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Century Aluminum by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,295,711 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $168,306,000 after buying an additional 77,895 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Century Aluminum by 109.7% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,830,324 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $107,422,000 after buying an additional 957,571 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Century Aluminum by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,609,093 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $63,044,000 after purchasing an additional 176,730 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 is a primary aluminum producer that develops and operates smelters designed to supply low-carbon, high-purity aluminum products to a range of industrial and commercial markets. Established in 1995, the company has grown to become a significant North American aluminum producer with an expanding international footprint. Century Aluminum is headquartered in the United States and is focused on energy-efficient operations and cost management.

The company's core operations include three primary aluminum smelting facilities located in Hawesville, Kentucky; Mount Holly, South Carolina; and Grundartangi, Iceland.

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