Century Aluminum Company (NASDAQ:CENX) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Century Aluminum Company (NASDAQ:CENX) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $80.00.

Several research firms have recently commented on CENX. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Century Aluminum from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings raised Century Aluminum from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. B. Riley Financial boosted their target price on Century Aluminum from $68.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Wall Street Zen raised Century Aluminum from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $75.00 price target on Century Aluminum and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Century Aluminum

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Glencore plc raised its stake in shares of Century Aluminum by 33.6% during the 4th quarter. Glencore plc now owns 53,511,894 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,096,596,000 after purchasing an additional 13,454,538 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Century Aluminum by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,939,794 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $271,901,000 after purchasing an additional 1,094,257 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Century Aluminum by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,295,711 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $168,306,000 after purchasing an additional 77,895 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Century Aluminum by 109.7% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,830,324 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $107,422,000 after purchasing an additional 957,571 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Century Aluminum by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,609,093 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $63,044,000 after purchasing an additional 176,730 shares in the last quarter. 61.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Century Aluminum Price Performance

Century Aluminum stock opened at $61.19 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $6.06 billion, a PE ratio of 18.27 and a beta of 1.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 2.30. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $62.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.36. Century Aluminum has a twelve month low of $16.59 and a twelve month high of $70.43.

About Century Aluminum

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.