Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Short Interest Down 12.8% in January

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,300,000 shares, a decline of 12.8% from the January 15th total of 4,930,000 shares. Approximately 8.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,230,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.5 days.

Insider Transactions at Century Aluminum

In other news, CEO Jesse E. Gary sold 29,243 shares of Century Aluminum stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.97, for a total transaction of $554,739.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 50,753 shares in the company, valued at approximately $962,784.41. The trade was a 36.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Century Aluminum

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CENX. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Century Aluminum during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its holdings in Century Aluminum by 2,889.3% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 2,511 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 2,427 shares in the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in Century Aluminum in the fourth quarter worth approximately $54,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Century Aluminum by 159.2% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,256 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Olympiad Research LP bought a new position in Century Aluminum in the third quarter worth approximately $180,000. Institutional investors own 61.59% of the company’s stock.

Century Aluminum Trading Up 4.3 %

Shares of Century Aluminum stock traded up $0.90 on Tuesday, hitting $21.84. 1,666,418 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,507,267. Century Aluminum has a one year low of $9.65 and a one year high of $25.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The company has a fifty day moving average of $19.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.97. The company has a market capitalization of $2.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.30 and a beta of 2.50.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CENX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wolfe Research upgraded Century Aluminum from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com raised Century Aluminum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 9th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Century Aluminum from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, B. Riley upped their target price on Century Aluminum from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th.

Century Aluminum Company 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.