Investors Buy High Volume of Century Aluminum Put Options (NASDAQ:CENX)

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Investors purchased 7,268 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 473% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,269 put options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jesse E. Gary sold 29,243 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.97, for a total value of $554,739.71. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 50,753 shares in the company, valued at approximately $962,784.41. This trade represents a 36.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Century Aluminum

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CENX. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Century Aluminum by 1,607.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC now owns 22,849,097 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $370,841,000 after acquiring an additional 21,510,639 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Century Aluminum by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,279,772 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $20,774,000 after acquiring an additional 13,486 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Century Aluminum by 49.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 959,033 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $15,565,000 after acquiring an additional 319,164 shares during the period. Impala Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Century Aluminum by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Impala Asset Management LLC now owns 904,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $14,672,000 after purchasing an additional 54,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Century Aluminum by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 621,300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,084,000 after buying an additional 89,621 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.59% of the company’s stock.

Century Aluminum Trading Up 9.2 %

Shares of CENX stock traded up $1.71 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $20.40. 2,002,838 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,334,999. The firm has a market cap of $1.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.80 and a beta of 2.50. Century Aluminum has a fifty-two week low of $9.65 and a fifty-two week high of $25.39. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 1.71.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.