Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Short Interest Update

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) was the target of a large growth in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,700,000 shares, a growth of 11.1% from the November 30th total of 4,230,000 shares. Approximately 9.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,080,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.4 days.

Century Aluminum Trading Down 0.1 %

CENX traded down $0.01 on Wednesday, hitting $18.22. The company had a trading volume of 826,421 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,294,750. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $20.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.36. Century Aluminum has a 1 year low of $9.65 and a 1 year high of $25.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $1.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 2.50.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on CENX shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Century Aluminum from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Century Aluminum from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Century Aluminum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 9th. Finally, B. Riley upped 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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Century Aluminum news, CEO Jesse E. Gary sold 29,243 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.97, for a total value of $554,739.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 50,753 shares in the company, valued at $962,784.41. This represents a 36.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quest Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Century Aluminum by 104.1% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 2,716 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 1,385 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Century Aluminum by 39.6% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,347 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 1,233 shares in the last quarter. Olympiad Research LP purchased a new stake in Century Aluminum during the third quarter worth about $180,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Century Aluminum during the third quarter worth about $189,000. Finally, MQS Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Century Aluminum by 8.1% in the second quarter. MQS Management LLC now owns 11,792 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $198,000 after purchasing an additional 883 shares during the period. 61.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.