Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Short Interest Update

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,730,000 shares, a decline of 13.7% from the October 15th total of 5,480,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,080,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.4 days. Currently, 9.2% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Century Aluminum Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CENX traded up $1.50 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $22.62. 2,695,330 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,260,459. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 1.71. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $16.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.45. Century Aluminum has a fifty-two week low of $7.28 and a fifty-two week high of $24.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.57 and a beta of 2.47.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $539.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $587.10 million. Century Aluminum had a return on equity of 11.37% and a net margin of 14.60%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.13) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Century Aluminum will post 0.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. B. Riley increased their price target on Century Aluminum from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Century Aluminum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Century Aluminum from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Century Aluminum in the first quarter worth about $601,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Century Aluminum by 125.7% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 531,679 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,906,000 after purchasing an additional 296,101 shares in the last quarter. Aristeia Capital L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Century Aluminum in the 2nd quarter valued at about $681,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Century Aluminum by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,819,805 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $89,567,000 after purchasing an additional 39,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Century Aluminum during the 1st quarter valued at about $163,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.59% of the company’s stock.

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.