Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX)

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) was the target of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Traders purchased 8,821 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 965% compared to the typical daily volume of 828 call options.

Century Aluminum Price Performance

NASDAQ CENX opened at $18.93 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market cap of $1.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.68 and a beta of 2.52. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.06. Century Aluminum has a 52-week low of $5.70 and a 52-week high of $19.88.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported ($0.39) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by ($0.20). Century Aluminum had a net margin of 10.72% and a return on equity of 4.27%. The company had revenue of $489.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $520.30 million. Analysts anticipate that Century Aluminum will post 0.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CENX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Century Aluminum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Century Aluminum from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd.

Insider Transactions at Century Aluminum

In other Century Aluminum 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 transaction of $972,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 through this link. 0.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Century Aluminum

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Century Aluminum in the first quarter valued at about $2,058,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Century Aluminum in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,992,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Century Aluminum by 33.5% in the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 86,628 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $623,000 after acquiring an additional 21,716 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new position in Century Aluminum during the 4th quarter worth approximately $68,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Century Aluminum by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,243,573 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,380,000 after acquiring an additional 42,167 shares in the last quarter. 61.59% of the stock is 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.