Granahan Investment Management LLC Increases Position in Centrus Energy Corp. $LEU

Granahan Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Centrus Energy Corp. (NYSE:LEU) by 19.2% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 89,690 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,455 shares during the quarter. Granahan Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Centrus Energy were worth $15,569,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in LEU. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in Centrus Energy during the first quarter valued at about $1,017,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in Centrus Energy by 217.4% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 160,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,868,000 after purchasing an additional 109,960 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in Centrus Energy by 41.1% in the first quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 1,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in Centrus Energy by 32.8% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 6,119 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,062,000 after purchasing an additional 1,510 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lido Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Centrus Energy by 62.6% during the first quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 1,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $321,000 after buying an additional 712 shares during the last quarter. 49.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Centrus Energy from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Needham & Company LLC began coverage on shares of Centrus Energy in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $264.00 price objective for the company. Roth Capital decreased their target price on shares of Centrus Energy from $230.00 to $195.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Centrus Energy from $240.00 to $205.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Centrus Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $252.08.

Centrus Energy Stock Performance

LEU opened at $164.18 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 21.15 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 4.88, a current ratio of 5.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $170.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $207.39. Centrus Energy Corp. has a 52-week low of $142.13 and a 52-week high of $464.25.

Centrus Energy (NYSE:LEU) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.72. The company had revenue of $76.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $76.13 million. Centrus Energy had a net margin of 13.40% and a return on equity of 13.10%. Centrus Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.60 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Centrus Energy Corp. will post 2.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Centrus Energy

In other Centrus Energy news, CFO Todd M. Tinelli sold 306 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.55, for a total value of $62,286.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

About Centrus Energy

Centrus Energy Corp is a U.S.-based supplier of nuclear fuel and enrichment services, specializing in the production of low-enriched uranium (LEU) for commercial power reactors and highly enriched uranium for naval propulsion. Through its Centrus Global subsidiary, the company provides technical support, fuel fabrication services and recycled uranium products to utilities operating light-water reactors. Centrus also develops advanced centrifuge technologies aimed at improving enrichment efficiency and reducing the cost of nuclear fuel.

Originally founded as the United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC) in 1998 following a spin-out from the U.S.