Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Upgraded to "Strong-Buy" at Zacks Research

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

• Century Aluminum: A Premier Stock for the Industrial Resurgence

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. B. Riley upped their price objective on Century Aluminum from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Century Aluminum in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Century Aluminum from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have given a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $24.67.

Read Our Latest Analysis on CENX

Century Aluminum Stock Down 1.6%

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Shares of CENX opened at $21.6050 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.61 and a beta of 2.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 0.61. Century Aluminum has a one year low of $11.63 and a one year high of $25.39. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $20.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.65.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The industrial products company reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.39). The business had revenue of $628.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $606.10 million. Century Aluminum had a return on equity of 18.02% and a net margin of 4.94%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Century Aluminum will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Century Aluminum

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In related news, SVP Matt Aboud sold 12,027 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.27, for a total value of $279,868.29. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 62,589 shares in the company, valued at $1,456,446.03. This represents a 16.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Century Aluminum

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Century Aluminum by 60.5% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 41,622 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $773,000 after purchasing an additional 15,683 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Century Aluminum by 13.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,418 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $101,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in Century Aluminum by 130.4% during the 1st quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 33,414 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $620,000 after purchasing an additional 18,909 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of Century Aluminum by 21.3% during the 1st quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 359,867 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $6,679,000 after buying an additional 63,086 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Century Aluminum during the 1st quarter worth about $4,918,000. 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.

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