Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Upgraded at StockNews.com

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. B. Riley raised their target price on Century Aluminum from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Century Aluminum from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday.

Century Aluminum Price Performance

NASDAQ:CENX opened at $22.10 on Friday. Century Aluminum has a one year low of $6.25 and a one year high of $22.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 1.72. The stock has a market cap of $2.05 billion, a PE ratio of 7.39 and a beta of 2.47. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $16.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.32.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.31. Century Aluminum had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 14.60%. The firm had revenue of $539.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $587.10 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.13) earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Century Aluminum will post 0.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CENX. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Century Aluminum by 43.4% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 230,860 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,553,000 after buying an additional 69,910 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its holdings in Century Aluminum by 2.5% in the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 45,288 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $697,000 after purchasing an additional 1,102 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Century Aluminum in the first quarter valued at $601,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted 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 valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 6,924 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Century Aluminum in the first quarter valued at $163,000. 61.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.