Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Short Interest Update

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,820,000 shares, a growth of 10.0% from the August 15th total of 5,290,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,400,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.2 days. Currently, 11.3% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Century Aluminum from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. B. Riley cut their target price on shares of Century Aluminum from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Century Aluminum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jesse E. Gary sold 60,000 shares of Century Aluminum stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.21, for a total value of $972,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 62,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,012,265.87. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Century Aluminum

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CENX. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Century Aluminum by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 850,179 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,321,000 after buying an additional 48,631 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in Century Aluminum by 26.4% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 160,950 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,954,000 after purchasing an additional 33,621 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Century Aluminum by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,243,573 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,380,000 after buying an additional 42,167 shares during the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP bought a new position in shares of Century Aluminum during the fourth quarter worth $287,000. Finally, Crestline Management LP purchased a new position in Century Aluminum during the fourth quarter valued at $976,000. 61.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Century Aluminum Stock Performance

CENX traded up $0.35 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $14.55. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,081,429 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,392,135. Century Aluminum has a one year low of $5.70 and a one year high of $21.37. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market cap of $1.35 billion, a PE ratio of 6.67 and a beta of 2.48.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The industrial products company reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.02 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $560.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $530.90 million. Century Aluminum had a negative return on equity of 0.04% and a net margin of 10.32%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Century Aluminum will post 0.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.