Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Centrus Energy Corp. $LEU

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Centrus Energy Corp. (NYSE:LEU) by 152.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 63,142 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 38,132 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Centrus Energy were worth $15,328,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Centrus Energy by 78.8% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 442,261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,132,000 after buying an additional 194,909 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Centrus Energy by 25.9% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 780,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $242,161,000 after acquiring an additional 160,482 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Centrus Energy by 43.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 473,145 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,861,000 after acquiring an additional 143,069 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in Centrus Energy by 16,538.1% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 101,326 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,598,000 after acquiring an additional 100,717 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Centrus Energy by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,072,118 shares of the company’s stock worth $332,432,000 after acquiring an additional 86,509 shares during the last quarter. 49.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LEU. Zacks Research raised Centrus Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Centrus Energy from $224.00 to $218.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 8th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Centrus Energy from $245.00 to $195.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Northland Securities set a $285.00 target price on Centrus Energy in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Centrus Energy from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $268.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centrus Energy

In other news, CFO Todd M. Tinelli sold 306 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.55, for a total value of $62,286.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Centrus Energy Stock Down 13.4%

Shares of LEU opened at $161.69 on Friday. Centrus Energy Corp. has a 52 week low of $133.00 and a 52 week high of $464.25. The company has a quick ratio of 4.88, a current ratio of 5.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The company has a market capitalization of $3.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.54, a PEG ratio of 23.58 and a beta of 1.34. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $191.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $228.69.

Centrus Energy (NYSE:LEU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.72. The company had revenue of $76.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $76.13 million. Centrus Energy had a return on equity of 13.10% and a net margin of 13.40%.Centrus Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.60 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Centrus Energy Corp. will post 2.65 EPS for the current year.

About Centrus Energy

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.