Centrus Energy (NYSE:LEU) Stock Price Up 7.2% – Time to Buy?

Shares of Centrus Energy Corp. (NYSE:LEU) traded up 7.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $112.50 and last traded at $111.29. 238,136 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 32% from the average session volume of 347,904 shares. The stock had previously closed at $103.81.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Centrus Energy to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Roth Capital cut shares of Centrus Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Roth Mkm decreased their price target on shares of Centrus Energy from $62.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, B. Riley upped their price target on shares of Centrus Energy from $88.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Centrus Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.00.

Centrus Energy Trading Up 5.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company’s 50 day moving average is $60.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.02. The firm has a market cap of $1.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.87 and a beta of 1.18.

Centrus Energy (NYSE:LEU) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The company reported ($0.30) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.48). Centrus Energy had a net margin of 19.24% and a return on equity of 138.38%. The company had revenue of $57.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $56.50 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Centrus Energy Corp. will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Centrus Energy

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LEU. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Centrus Energy by 43.6% in the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $345,000 after buying an additional 2,523 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in Centrus Energy by 207.3% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 10,090 shares of the company’s stock worth $419,000 after purchasing an additional 6,807 shares in the last quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Centrus Energy in the first quarter worth about $2,076,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in Centrus Energy by 2.8% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 28,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,185,000 after purchasing an additional 766 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Centrus Energy by 2.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 766,064 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,815,000 after purchasing an additional 17,033 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 49.96% of the company’s stock.

Centrus Energy Company Profile

Centrus Energy Corp. supplies nuclear fuel components and services for the nuclear power industry in the United States, Belgium, Japan, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Low-Enriched Uranium (LEU) and Technical Solutions. The LEU segment sells separative work units (SWU) components of LEU; natural uranium hexafluoride, uranium concentrates, and uranium conversion; and enriched uranium products to utilities that operate nuclear power plants.