Centrus Energy (NYSE:LEU) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Centrus Energy Corp. (NYSE:LEU) gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $79.90, but opened at $83.92. Centrus Energy shares last traded at $82.86, with a volume of 373,063 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on LEU. Roth Capital lowered Centrus Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Roth Mkm decreased their price objective on Centrus Energy from $62.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of Centrus Energy to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, B. Riley lifted their target price on shares of Centrus Energy from $88.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Centrus Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $92.00.

Centrus Energy Stock Up 0.7 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.25 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $72.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.74.

Centrus Energy (NYSE:LEU) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The company reported ($0.30) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.48). Centrus Energy had a return on equity of 138.38% and a net margin of 19.24%. The business had revenue of $57.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $56.50 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Centrus Energy Corp. will post 2.28 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centrus Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LEU. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Centrus Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC purchased a new position in Centrus Energy during the second quarter valued at $43,000. nVerses Capital LLC lifted its position in Centrus Energy by 133.3% during the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 1,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in Centrus Energy by 181.8% during the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 2,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,000 after buying an additional 1,754 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heritage Investors Management Corp bought a new stake in Centrus Energy in the third quarter worth $203,000. 49.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Centrus Energy

Centrus Energy Corp. supplies nuclear fuel components and services for the nuclear power industry in the United States, Belgium, Japan, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Low-Enriched Uranium (LEU) and Technical Solutions. The LEU segment sells separative work units (SWU) components of LEU; natural uranium hexafluoride, uranium concentrates, and uranium conversion; and enriched uranium products to utilities that operate nuclear power plants.