Short Interest in Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Declines By 8.3%

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,820,000 shares, a drop of 8.3% from the May 15th total of 7,440,000 shares. Currently, 13.3% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,400,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.9 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Century Aluminum

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Century Aluminum by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 801,548 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,763,000 after purchasing an additional 25,480 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in shares of Century Aluminum by 105.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 46,399 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $331,000 after purchasing an additional 23,770 shares during the period. Dark Forest Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Century Aluminum by 156.3% in the 3rd quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 201,567 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,449,000 after purchasing an additional 122,915 shares during the period. MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Century Aluminum in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $133,000. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Century Aluminum by 33.5% in the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 86,628 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $623,000 after purchasing an additional 21,716 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.59% of the company’s stock.

Century Aluminum Trading Down 1.1 %

NASDAQ CENX opened at $15.29 on Wednesday. Century Aluminum has a fifty-two week low of $5.70 and a fifty-two week high of $19.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 1.67. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.43. The stock has a market cap of $1.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.09 and a beta of 2.57.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported ($0.39) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by ($0.20). Century Aluminum had a return on equity of 4.27% and a net margin of 10.72%. The business had revenue of $489.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $520.30 million. On average, analysts forecast that Century Aluminum will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CENX has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered Century Aluminum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Century Aluminum from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd.

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.