Century Aluminum Company (NASDAQ:CENX) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Analysts

Century Aluminum Company (NASDAQ:CENX) has earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the five brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $41.00.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on CENX shares. Zacks Research raised Century Aluminum from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Century Aluminum from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Century Aluminum from $46.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Century Aluminum in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th.

Century Aluminum Stock Performance

CENX stock opened at $47.57 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.52. The company has a market capitalization of $4.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.96 and a beta of 2.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Century Aluminum has a fifty-two week low of $13.05 and a fifty-two week high of $49.67.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.23). The company had revenue of $632.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $629.85 million. Century Aluminum had a return on equity of 12.83% and a net margin of 3.47%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.63 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Century Aluminum will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Century Aluminum

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Century Aluminum by 26.3% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,592 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Century Aluminum by 2.5% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 16,562 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $486,000 after buying an additional 411 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC increased its holdings in shares of Century Aluminum by 0.8% in the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 53,943 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,584,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Century Aluminum by 12.9% during the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,414 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Century Aluminum by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 20,926 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $377,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.59% of the company’s stock.

Century Aluminum Company Profile

Century Aluminum Company is a primary aluminum producer that develops and operates smelters designed to supply low-carbon, high-purity aluminum products to a range of industrial and commercial markets. Established in 1995, the company has grown to become a significant North American aluminum producer with an expanding international footprint. Century Aluminum is headquartered in the United States and is focused on energy-efficient operations and cost management.

The company’s core operations include three primary aluminum smelting facilities located in Hawesville, Kentucky; Mount Holly, South Carolina; and Grundartangi, Iceland.