Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Short Interest Up 6.0% in July

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) saw a large growth in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,660,000 shares, a growth of 6.0% from the June 30th total of 5,340,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,420,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.0 days. Currently, 11.0% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Jesse E. Gary sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owns 62,447 shares in the company, valued at $1,012,265.87. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Century Aluminum

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CENX. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Century Aluminum during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,470,000. Allworth Financial LP purchased a new stake in Century Aluminum in the 4th quarter worth $68,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in Century Aluminum by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 102,005 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,238,000 after acquiring an additional 3,500 shares during the period. Perennial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Century Aluminum during the fourth quarter valued at $1,482,000. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Century Aluminum in the fourth quarter valued at about $314,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.59% of the company’s stock.

Century Aluminum Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CENX opened at $13.89 on Friday. Century Aluminum has a 1 year low of $5.70 and a 1 year high of $21.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 1.67. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $17.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $14.90. The company has a market capitalization of $1.29 billion, a PE ratio of 6.37 and a beta of 2.52.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported ($0.39) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by ($0.20). Century Aluminum had a return on equity of 4.27% and a net margin of 10.72%. The firm had revenue of $489.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $520.30 million. On average, research analysts predict that Century Aluminum will post 0.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Century Aluminum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Century Aluminum from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd.

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.