Van ECK Associates Corp Acquires New Position in Century Aluminum Company $CENX

Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new position in shares of Century Aluminum Company (NASDAQ:CENX) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 89,352 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,111,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CENX. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in Century Aluminum by 19.2% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 17,285 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $804,000 after buying an additional 2,786 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Century Aluminum by 45.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 548,898 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $25,255,000 after acquiring an additional 170,451 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Century Aluminum during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,118,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Century Aluminum in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $22,369,000. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Century Aluminum in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $125,000. 61.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CENX. Weiss Ratings cut Century Aluminum from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Zacks Research downgraded Century Aluminum from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Century Aluminum from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. B. Riley Financial reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Century Aluminum in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on shares of Century Aluminum in a report on Monday, August 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $60.00 target price for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.00.

Century Aluminum Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CENX opened at $47.51 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $45.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.59. The stock has a market cap of $4.70 billion, a PE ratio of 8.21 and a beta of 1.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.75. Century Aluminum Company has a one year low of $21.48 and a one year high of $70.43.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $2.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by $0.13. Century Aluminum had a return on equity of 33.83% and a net margin of 22.63%.The company had revenue of $752.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $817.15 million. Century Aluminum’s revenue for the quarter was up 59.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Century Aluminum Company will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Century Aluminum Company Profile

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.