Alcoa (AA) Competitors

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

Does the media prefer CENX or AA?

In the previous week, Alcoa had 13 more articles in the media than Century Aluminum. MarketBeat recorded 16 mentions for Alcoa and 3 mentions for Century Aluminum. Century Aluminum's average media sentiment score of 1.08 beat Alcoa's score of 0.89 indicating that Century Aluminum is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Century Aluminum	1 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Alcoa	7 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	6 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 target price of $24.33, indicating a potential upside of 17.50%. Alcoa has a consensus target price of $42.31, indicating a potential upside of 35.95%. 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

Which has better earnings & valuation, 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	0.87	$336.80M	$1.18	17.55
Alcoa	$11.90B	0.68	$60M	$3.32	9.37

Do institutionals & insiders believe in CENX or AA?

61.6% of Century Aluminum shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.8% of Century Aluminum shares are owned 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.

Is CENX or AA more profitable?

Alcoa has a net margin of 6.79% compared to Century Aluminum's net margin of 5.17%. Century Aluminum's return on equity of 19.06% beat Alcoa's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Century Aluminum	5.17%	19.06%	6.43%
Alcoa	6.79%	18.56%	7.02%

Which has more volatility & risk, CENX or AA?

Century Aluminum has a beta of 2.55, suggesting that its share price is 155% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Alcoa has a beta of 2.25, suggesting that its share price is 125% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

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