Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Short Interest Down 12.8% in January

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,300,000 shares, a drop of 12.8% from the January 15th total of 4,930,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,230,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.5 days. Currently, 8.4% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Century Aluminum Stock Up 4.3 %

Century Aluminum stock traded up $0.90 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $21.84. The stock had a trading volume of 1,666,418 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,507,267. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.97. Century Aluminum has a 1-year low of $9.65 and a 1-year high of $25.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.30 and a beta of 2.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 1.71.

Insider Transactions at Century Aluminum

In other news, CEO Jesse E. Gary sold 29,243 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.97, for a total transaction of $554,739.71. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 50,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $962,784.41. This trade represents a 36.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CENX. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new position in Century Aluminum in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. AlphaQuest LLC grew its stake in Century Aluminum by 2,889.3% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 2,511 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 2,427 shares in the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in Century Aluminum in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Century Aluminum by 159.2% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,256 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Olympiad Research LP bought a new position in Century Aluminum in the third quarter valued at approximately $180,000. 61.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Century Aluminum from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wolfe Research raised Century Aluminum from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com raised Century Aluminum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 9th. Finally, B. Riley lifted their target price on Century Aluminum from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th.

Century Aluminum Company Profile

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.