Century Aluminum Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:CENX)

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Traders bought 8,821 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 965% compared to the average daily volume of 828 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Century Aluminum

In other news, CEO Jesse E. Gary sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.21, for a total value of $972,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 62,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,012,265.87. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Century Aluminum

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Century Aluminum by 13,746.2% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 1,787 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Century Aluminum by 199.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,878 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,918 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new stake in Century Aluminum during the fourth quarter worth approximately $68,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Century Aluminum by 7,779.8% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 7,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 6,924 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capstone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Century Aluminum in the first quarter valued at approximately $161,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.59% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on CENX shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Century Aluminum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Century Aluminum from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd.

Century Aluminum Stock Performance

Shares of CENX stock opened at $20.19 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.87 billion, a PE ratio of 9.26 and a beta of 2.52. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 0.63. Century Aluminum has a one year low of $5.70 and a one year high of $21.37.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported ($0.39) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.19) by ($0.20). Century Aluminum had a return on equity of 4.27% and a net margin of 10.72%. The firm had revenue of $489.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $520.30 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Century Aluminum will post 0.62 earnings per share for the current year.

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.