Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $18.69, but opened at $19.82. Century Aluminum shares last traded at $21.13, with a volume of 1,150,942 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on CENX shares. B. Riley raised their price target on shares of Century Aluminum from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Century Aluminum from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Century Aluminum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 9th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded 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 report on Tuesday, December 3rd.

Century Aluminum Trading Up 5.6 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.28 and a beta of 2.50. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at Century Aluminum

In related news, CEO Jesse E. Gary sold 29,243 shares of Century Aluminum stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.97, for a total value of $554,739.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 50,753 shares in the company, valued at approximately $962,784.41. The trade was a 36.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AlphaQuest LLC grew its holdings in Century Aluminum by 2,889.3% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 2,511 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 2,427 shares in the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Century Aluminum in the fourth quarter valued at about $54,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Century Aluminum by 159.2% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,256 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Century Aluminum during the fourth quarter worth $199,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.