Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Century Aluminum in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. B. Riley Financial raised their price target on shares of Century Aluminum from $37.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Century Aluminum from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Zacks Research upgraded Century Aluminum from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Century Aluminum from $46.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.00.

Century Aluminum Stock Up 0.3%

Century Aluminum stock opened at $52.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.91 billion, a PE ratio of 131.60 and a beta of 2.24. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.41. Century Aluminum has a 12 month low of $13.05 and a 12 month high of $55.61.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25. The firm had revenue of $633.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $661.63 million. Century Aluminum had a net margin of 1.65% and a return on equity of 6.05%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.49 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Century Aluminum will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Century Aluminum news, CEO Jesse E. Gary sold 150,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.19, for a total value of $7,228,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 292,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,099,430.20. This trade represents a 33.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Century Aluminum

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Century Aluminum by 22.1% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 39,001 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $724,000 after purchasing an additional 7,051 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp purchased a new stake in Century Aluminum in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Century Aluminum by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 59,186 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,098,000 after buying an additional 1,069 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in Century Aluminum by 21.2% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 124,001 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,301,000 after buying an additional 21,702 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC purchased a new position in Century Aluminum during the second quarter worth about $203,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.59% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Century Aluminum

Here are the key news stories impacting Century Aluminum this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Company statement backing the Supreme Court IEEPA ruling and U.S. trade policies; Century says Section 232 tariffs helped justify near‑term production increases (~10% at Mt. Holly) and supports plans to build a new smelter in Inola, OK (large capex and job creation — long‑term production upside). Century Aluminum Company Statement on U.S. Supreme Court IEEPA Ruling
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support and institutional interest: recent buy/overweight ratings and price targets (median ~$61) plus large Q4 additions by some institutions support upside expectations. QuiverQuant institutional & analyst notes
• Positive Sentiment: Sector tailwinds and improving cash flow commentary from analysts — industrials momentum and calls to favor names with rising cash flows include CENX as resilient versus headline earnings. Zacks: rising cash flows
• Neutral Sentiment: Q4 result details are mixed across reports: revenue of ~$633.7M (up 0.4% YoY) but below some estimates; different outlets report varying EPS metrics (some adjusted measures met estimates while other GAAP figures were far weaker), making near‑term guidance clarity important. Yahoo: Q4 earnings snapshot
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction to Q4: several outlets show a revenue miss and sharply weaker net income/GAAP EPS in the quarter, which pressured the stock after the release. QuiverQuant: Stock falls on Q4 earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Recent insider selling is notable (including large sales reported over the past six months), which can weigh on near‑term sentiment even as institutions adjust positions. QuiverQuant: press release & insider activity
• Neutral Sentiment: Data oddities: a short‑interest entry shows anomalous/zero values — treat as unreliable until confirmed. QuiverQuant: short interest note

Century Aluminum Company Profile

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.