Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Wells Fargo & Company Analyst Says

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) had its target price boosted by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $79.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 32.49% from the stock’s previous close.

CENX has been the topic of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings raised Century Aluminum from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen raised Century Aluminum from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets set a $75.00 price objective on Century Aluminum and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. B. Riley Financial boosted their price objective on Century Aluminum from $68.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Century Aluminum from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Century Aluminum currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.00.

Century Aluminum Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CENX traded down $0.96 during trading on Friday, reaching $59.63. The stock had a trading volume of 662,073 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,188,639. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.97. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $57.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.29. The stock has a market cap of $5.90 billion, a PE ratio of 148.62 and a beta of 1.91. Century Aluminum has a 1-year low of $15.13 and a 1-year high of $68.69.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25. The firm had revenue of $633.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $661.63 million. Century Aluminum had a return on equity of 5.57% and a net margin of 1.65%.The business’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.49 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Century Aluminum will post 10.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Century Aluminum news, CAO Robert F. Hoffman sold 10,529 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.51, for a total transaction of $594,993.79. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 56,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,200,895.93. The trade was a 15.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Matt Aboud sold 12,126 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.50, for a total value of $636,615.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 67,814 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,560,235. This trade represents a 15.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 251,626 shares of company stock worth $13,619,411. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Century Aluminum

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Jones Financial Companies Lllp acquired a new position in shares of Century Aluminum in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Private Trust Co. NA acquired a new position in shares of Century Aluminum in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Century Aluminum in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Century Aluminum by 253.1% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,822 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,306 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new position in shares of Century Aluminum in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.59% of the company’s stock.

About Century Aluminum

Century Aluminum Company is a primary aluminum producer that develops and operates smelters designed to supply low-carbon, high-purity aluminum products to a range of industrial and commercial markets. Established in 1995, the company has grown to become a significant North American aluminum producer with an expanding international footprint. Century Aluminum is headquartered in the United States and is focused on energy-efficient operations and cost management.

The company’s core operations include three primary aluminum smelting facilities located in Hawesville, Kentucky; Mount Holly, South Carolina; and Grundartangi, Iceland.