Alcoa (AA) Competitors

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) and Alcoa (NYSE:AA) are both mid-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, media sentiment, profitability and institutional ownership.

Does the media favor CENX or AA?

In the previous week, Alcoa had 2 more articles in the media than Century Aluminum. MarketBeat recorded 13 mentions for Alcoa and 11 mentions for Century Aluminum. Alcoa's average media sentiment score of 0.73 beat Century Aluminum's score of 0.60 indicating that Alcoa is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Century Aluminum	5 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Alcoa	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	10 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts recommend CENX or AA?

Century Aluminum currently has a consensus price target of $25.67, indicating a potential downside of 14.07%. Alcoa has a consensus price target of $42.27, indicating a potential upside of 22.52%. Given Alcoa's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Alcoa is more favorable than Century Aluminum.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Century Aluminum	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Alcoa	2 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in CENX or AA?

61.6% of Century Aluminum shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.4% of Alcoa shares are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of Century Aluminum shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Alcoa shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has preferable valuation & earnings, CENX or AA?

Century Aluminum has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Alcoa. Alcoa is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Century Aluminum, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Century Aluminum	$2.22B	1.26	$336.80M	$1.16	25.75
Alcoa	$12.78B	0.70	$60M	$3.83	9.01

Which has more volatility & risk, CENX or AA?

Century Aluminum has a beta of 2.52, meaning that its stock price is 152% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Alcoa has a beta of 2.2, meaning that its stock price is 120% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is CENX or AA more profitable?

Alcoa has a net margin of 7.86% compared to Century Aluminum's net margin of 4.94%. Alcoa's return on equity of 19.18% beat Century Aluminum's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Century Aluminum	4.94%	18.02%	6.21%
Alcoa	7.86%	19.18%	7.44%

Summary

Alcoa beats Century Aluminum on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.