Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $17.38, but opened at $18.31. Century Aluminum shares last traded at $18.62, with a volume of 716,885 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CENX. B. Riley increased their target price on shares of Century Aluminum from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Century Aluminum from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded Century Aluminum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded Century Aluminum from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday.

Century Aluminum Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.87 billion, a PE ratio of 6.39 and a beta of 2.50. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The industrial products company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $631.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $515.27 million. Century Aluminum had a return on equity of 13.38% and a net margin of 14.69%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.39 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Century Aluminum will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jesse E. Gary sold 29,243 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.97, for a total value of $554,739.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 50,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $962,784.41. The trade was a 36.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Century Aluminum

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Century Aluminum during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Century Aluminum by 2,889.3% in the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 2,511 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 2,427 shares during the period. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Century Aluminum in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Century Aluminum by 159.2% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,256 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Finally, Corton Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Century Aluminum in the 4th quarter valued at about $189,000. 61.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.