Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 43,881 Shares of Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) by 17.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 301,992 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 43,881 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Century Aluminum were worth $4,901,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of CENX. Quest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Century Aluminum by 104.1% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 2,716 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 1,385 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Century Aluminum by 39.6% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,347 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 1,233 shares during the last quarter. Olympiad Research LP acquired a new stake in Century Aluminum in the third quarter worth about $180,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in Century Aluminum in the third quarter worth about $189,000. Finally, MQS Management LLC grew its position in Century Aluminum by 8.1% during the 2nd quarter. MQS Management LLC now owns 11,792 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $198,000 after purchasing an additional 883 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.59% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on CENX shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Century Aluminum from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com upgraded Century Aluminum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 9th. Wolfe Research upgraded Century Aluminum from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, B. Riley raised their price target on shares of Century Aluminum from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th.

Insider Activity at Century Aluminum

In related news, CEO Jesse E. Gary sold 29,243 shares of Century Aluminum stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.97, for a total value of $554,739.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 50,753 shares in the company, valued at $962,784.41. The trade was a 36.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Century Aluminum Stock Performance

NASDAQ CENX opened at $17.93 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.00 and a beta of 2.50. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 1.71. Century Aluminum has a fifty-two week low of $9.65 and a fifty-two week high of $25.39.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.31. Century Aluminum had a return on equity of 11.37% and a net margin of 14.60%. The company had revenue of $539.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $587.10 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.13) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Century Aluminum will post 0.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Century Aluminum Profile

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.