Century Aluminum's (CENX) "Hold (C)" Rating Reaffirmed at Weiss Ratings

Key Points

• Weiss Ratings has reaffirmed Century Aluminum's stock rating as "hold (C)", while several analysts provided mixed ratings ranging from "strong buy" to "hold".
• Century Aluminum's stock recently rose by 2.8% to $30.79, with analysts projecting an average target price of $27.75 and a consensus rating of "buy".
• The company reported a quarterly earnings miss with earnings per share of (0.05), falling short of the expected $0.34, though its revenue was above estimates at $628.10 million.

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

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on CENX. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Century Aluminum from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 3rd. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Century Aluminum in a report on Friday, August 8th. B. Riley lifted their target price on Century Aluminum from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. Zacks Research raised shares of Century Aluminum from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Century Aluminum from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. One equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Century Aluminum presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $27.75.

Century Aluminum Stock Up 2.8%

Century Aluminum stock traded up $0.85 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $30.79. 3,113,271 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,377,904. Century Aluminum has a 1 year low of $13.05 and a 1 year high of $34.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market cap of $2.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.54 and a beta of 2.52. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $26.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.25.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The industrial products company reported ($0.05) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Century Aluminum will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Century Aluminum

In other 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 transaction of $279,868.29. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Agust F. Hafberg sold 9,493 shares of Century Aluminum stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total transaction of $264,949.63. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 55,260 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,542,306.60. This represents a 14.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Century Aluminum by 13.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,418 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $101,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Century Aluminum by 60.5% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 41,622 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $773,000 after buying an additional 15,683 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Century Aluminum by 3.4% in the first quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 94,135 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,747,000 after buying an additional 3,067 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in shares of Century Aluminum by 130.4% in the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 33,414 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $620,000 after buying an additional 18,909 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Century Aluminum by 2.2% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 326,795 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $6,065,000 after acquiring an additional 7,093 shares during the period. 61.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Century Aluminum

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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