South Dakota Investment Council Buys New Position in Century Aluminum Company (NASDAQ:CENX)

South Dakota Investment Council bought a new stake in Century Aluminum Company (NASDAQ:CENX - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 278,674 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $5,172,000. South Dakota Investment Council owned 0.30% of Century Aluminum at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in CENX. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Century Aluminum by 60.5% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 41,622 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $773,000 after purchasing an additional 15,683 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Century Aluminum by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 539,161 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $9,824,000 after acquiring an additional 51,770 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in 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 last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised 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 last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of Century Aluminum by 21.3% in the first quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 359,867 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $6,679,000 after buying an additional 63,086 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.59% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen cut Century Aluminum from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday.

Century Aluminum Price Performance

CENX stock traded up $0.36 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $22.56. The company had a trading volume of 1,715,588 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,695,018. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 0.63. Century Aluminum Company has a 1-year low of $11.40 and a 1-year high of $25.39. The company has a market capitalization of $2.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.12 and a beta of 2.55. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $18.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.17.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.25). The company had revenue of $633.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $643.80 million. Century Aluminum had a net margin of 5.17% and a return on equity of 19.06%. Equities research analysts expect that Century Aluminum Company will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Century Aluminum 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.