Next Century Growth Investors LLC Boosts Holdings in Centrus Energy Corp. $LEU

Next Century Growth Investors LLC raised its holdings in Centrus Energy Corp. (NYSE:LEU) by 56.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 33,462 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,037 shares during the quarter. Next Century Growth Investors LLC’s holdings in Centrus Energy were worth $8,123,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LEU. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Centrus Energy by 78.8% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 442,261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,132,000 after purchasing an additional 194,909 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Centrus Energy by 25.9% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 780,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $242,161,000 after purchasing an additional 160,482 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Centrus Energy by 43.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 473,145 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,861,000 after purchasing an additional 143,069 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in Centrus Energy by 16,538.1% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 101,326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,598,000 after purchasing an additional 100,717 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Centrus Energy by 8.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,072,118 shares of the company’s stock valued at $332,432,000 after purchasing an additional 86,509 shares during the last quarter. 49.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on LEU. B. Riley Financial lowered their price target on shares of Centrus Energy from $315.00 to $295.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 24th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Centrus Energy from $224.00 to $218.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Centrus Energy from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Centrus Energy from $245.00 to $195.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Centrus Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Centrus Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $268.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Todd M. Tinelli sold 306 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.55, for a total value of $62,286.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Centrus Energy Trading Up 0.1%

LEU stock opened at $162.73 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $189.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $225.37. The company has a quick ratio of 4.88, a current ratio of 5.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. Centrus Energy Corp. has a 52-week low of $144.65 and a 52-week high of $464.25. The firm has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.88, a PEG ratio of 19.86 and a beta of 1.34.

Centrus Energy (NYSE:LEU) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.72. Centrus Energy had a net margin of 13.40% and a return on equity of 13.10%. The business had revenue of $76.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $76.13 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.60 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Centrus Energy Corp. will post 2.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Centrus Energy Company Profile

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.