Short Interest in Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Decreases By 13.7%

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) was the target of a large drop in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,730,000 shares, a drop of 13.7% from the October 15th total of 5,480,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,080,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.4 days. Approximately 9.2% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CENX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Century Aluminum from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. B. Riley increased their price objective on Century Aluminum from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Century Aluminum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 9th.

Century Aluminum Stock Performance

CENX traded up $1.50 on Friday, reaching $22.62. The company had a trading volume of 2,695,330 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,341,705. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Century Aluminum has a 1 year low of $7.28 and a 1 year high of $24.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.10 billion, a PE ratio of 7.57 and a beta of 2.47. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $16.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $16.45.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $539.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $587.10 million. Century Aluminum had a return on equity of 11.37% and a net margin of 14.60%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.13) EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Century Aluminum will post 0.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Century Aluminum

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Century Aluminum in the 1st quarter valued at $601,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Century Aluminum by 125.7% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 531,679 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,906,000 after buying an additional 296,101 shares during the last quarter. Aristeia Capital L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Century Aluminum during the second quarter worth about $681,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Century Aluminum by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,819,805 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $89,567,000 after buying an additional 39,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Century Aluminum in the 1st quarter valued at about $163,000. 61.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.