Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Acquires 51,770 Shares of Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) by 10.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 539,161 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 51,770 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Century Aluminum were worth $9,824,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CENX. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Century Aluminum in the fourth quarter worth $54,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Century Aluminum in the third quarter worth $189,000. Paloma Partners Management Co purchased a new position in Century Aluminum during the third quarter valued at $335,000. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC purchased a new position in Century Aluminum during the fourth quarter valued at $337,000. 61.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Century Aluminum

In related news, CAO Robert F. Hoffman sold 2,500 shares of Century Aluminum stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.99, for a total transaction of $49,975.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 64,083 shares in the company, valued at $1,281,019.17. This trade represents a 3.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jesse E. Gary sold 29,243 shares of Century Aluminum stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.97, for a total transaction of $554,739.71. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 50,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $962,784.41. The trade was a 36.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on CENX. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Century Aluminum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Wolfe Research upgraded 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 report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Century Aluminum from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th.

Century Aluminum Price Performance

CENX stock opened at $19.32 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.11 and a beta of 2.67. 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 52 week low of $11.40 and a 52 week high of $25.39.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) last released its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $631.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $515.27 million. Century Aluminum had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 13.38%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.39 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Century Aluminum will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.