StockNews.com Downgrades Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) to Sell

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on CENX. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Century Aluminum from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. 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.

Century Aluminum Stock Down 1.6 %

CENX opened at $18.60 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $19.35 and its 200-day moving average is $18.91. Century Aluminum has a one year low of $11.40 and a one year high of $25.39. The company has a market capitalization of $1.72 billion, a PE ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 2.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 1.71.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Jesse E. Gary sold 29,243 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 50,753 shares in the company, valued at approximately $962,784.41. This represents a 36.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Robert F. Hoffman sold 2,500 shares of Century Aluminum stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.99, for a total transaction of $49,975.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 64,083 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,281,019.17. The trade was a 3.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Glencore plc acquired a new stake in Century Aluminum during the 4th quarter worth about $729,427,000. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Century Aluminum by 1,607.1% in the third quarter. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC now owns 22,849,097 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $370,841,000 after purchasing an additional 21,510,639 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Century Aluminum by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,937,970 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,531,000 after purchasing an additional 28,557 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Century Aluminum by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,067,234 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $37,665,000 after purchasing an additional 111,203 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Century Aluminum by 1.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 13,486 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.59% of the company’s stock.

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.