Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Sell”

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

CENX has been the subject of a number of other reports. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Century Aluminum from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Wolfe Research upgraded Century Aluminum from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd.

Century Aluminum Stock Performance

NASDAQ CENX traded down $0.41 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $18.91. The company had a trading volume of 1,436,937 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,342,891. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Century Aluminum has a fifty-two week low of $11.40 and a fifty-two week high of $25.39. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.87. The firm has a market cap of $1.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.98 and a beta of 2.67.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The industrial products company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $631.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the business earned $0.39 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Century Aluminum will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Century Aluminum

In related news, CEO Jesse E. Gary sold 29,243 shares of the business’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 $962,784.41. The trade was a 36.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Robert F. Hoffman sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.99, for a total transaction of $49,975.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 64,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,281,019.17. This represents a 3.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Century Aluminum

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Century Aluminum during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in Century Aluminum by 2,889.3% in the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 2,511 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 2,427 shares in the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Century Aluminum during the 4th quarter worth about $54,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Century Aluminum by 159.2% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,256 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in Century Aluminum during the third quarter valued at about $189,000. 61.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.