Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) CEO Sells $7,228,500.00 in Stock

Century Aluminum Company (NASDAQ:CENX) CEO Jesse Gary sold 150,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.19, for a total transaction of $7,228,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 292,580 shares in the company, valued at $14,099,430.20. This trade represents a 33.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Century Aluminum Stock Performance

Shares of Century Aluminum stock opened at $48.71 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.62. Century Aluminum Company has a 12 month low of $13.05 and a 12 month high of $50.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.31 and a beta of 2.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.79 by ($0.23). Century Aluminum had a return on equity of 12.83% and a net margin of 3.47%.The business had revenue of $632.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $629.85 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.63 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Century Aluminum Company will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Century Aluminum

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CENX. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Century Aluminum by 1,291.8% during the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,364 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,266 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp purchased a new stake in Century Aluminum during the first quarter worth about $25,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Century Aluminum by 253.1% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,822 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 1,306 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new position in Century Aluminum during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, CWM LLC increased its holdings in Century Aluminum by 26.3% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,592 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.59% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Century Aluminum from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Century Aluminum in a report on Wednesday. Zacks Research cut shares of Century Aluminum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Century Aluminum from $46.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.00.

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.