Short Interest in Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Grows By 9.5%

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,470,000 shares, a growth of 9.5% from the May 31st total of 6,820,000 shares. Approximately 14.5% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,430,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.2 days.

Century Aluminum Trading Up 6.7 %

Shares of CENX stock opened at $20.19 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.26 and a beta of 2.52. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.10. 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 current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 0.63.

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) last announced 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). The company had revenue of $489.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $520.30 million. Century Aluminum had a net margin of 10.72% and a return on equity of 4.27%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Century Aluminum will post 0.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CENX. StockNews.com downgraded Century Aluminum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Century Aluminum from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Jesse E. Gary sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.21, for a total transaction of $972,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 62,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,012,265.87. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CENX. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Century Aluminum by 13,746.2% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 1,787 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Century Aluminum by 199.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,878 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 1,918 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP bought a new stake in Century Aluminum during the 4th quarter worth approximately $68,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Century Aluminum by 7,779.8% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 7,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 6,924 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capstone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Century Aluminum in the 1st quarter valued at $161,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.59% of the company’s stock.

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.