Alcoa (AA) Competitors

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

Is CENX or AA more profitable?

Alcoa has a net margin of 7.86% compared to Century Aluminum's net margin of 5.17%. 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	5.17%	19.06%	6.43%
Alcoa	7.86%	19.18%	7.44%

Which has more risk & volatility, CENX or AA?

Century Aluminum has a beta of 2.53, indicating that its share price is 153% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Alcoa has a beta of 2.24, indicating that its share price is 124% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders & institutionals hold more shares of CENX or AA?

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

Does the media favor CENX or AA?

In the previous week, Alcoa had 11 more articles in the media than Century Aluminum. MarketBeat recorded 18 mentions for Alcoa and 7 mentions for Century Aluminum. Alcoa's average media sentiment score of 0.89 beat Century Aluminum's score of 0.80 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	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Alcoa	7 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has better valuation and 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	0.86	$336.80M	$1.18	17.35
Alcoa	$11.90B	0.62	$60M	$3.83	7.42

Do analysts recommend CENX or AA?

Century Aluminum presently has a consensus price target of $24.33, indicating a potential upside of 18.87%. Alcoa has a consensus price target of $41.23, indicating a potential upside of 45.18%. 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)	0 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Alcoa	1 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.46

Summary

Alcoa beats Century Aluminum on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.