American Century Companies Inc. Sells 33,186 Shares of Century Aluminum Company $CENX

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. has reduced its holdings in Century Aluminum Company by 19.5%, owning approximately 137,111 shares valued at $2.55 million after selling 33,186 shares in the first quarter.
• Other institutional investors have also modified their stakes, with Cambridge Investment Research Advisors increasing its holdings by 60.5% to 41,622 shares valued at $773,000.
• Century Aluminum reported a loss of $0.05 earnings per share for the last quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates, despite revenue surpassing expectations at $628.10 million.

American Century Companies Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Century Aluminum Company (NASDAQ:CENX - Free Report) by 19.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 137,111 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 33,186 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.15% of Century Aluminum worth $2,545,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in Century Aluminum by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,067,234 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $37,665,000 after buying an additional 111,203 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Century Aluminum in the first quarter valued at about $14,726,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Century Aluminum by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 540,448 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $9,847,000 after buying an additional 29,400 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Century Aluminum by 117.9% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 460,796 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $8,396,000 after buying an additional 249,323 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Century Aluminum by 333.7% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 457,728 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $8,340,000 after buying an additional 352,186 shares in the last quarter. 61.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Century Aluminum

In other news, SVP Matt Aboud sold 12,027 shares of Century Aluminum stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.27, for a total transaction of $279,868.29. Following the sale, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

Century Aluminum Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of CENX stock traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $22.09. 1,331,901 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,328,522. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $21.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $18.85. Century Aluminum Company has a 1-year low of $11.63 and a 1-year high of $25.39. The company has a market cap of $2.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.04 and a beta of 2.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

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 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 firm had revenue of $628.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $606.10 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Century Aluminum Company will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on CENX shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Century Aluminum from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 3rd. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Century Aluminum in a research note on Friday, August 8th. B. Riley raised their price objective on Century Aluminum from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Century Aluminum from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have given a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $24.67.

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.