Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) vs. Liquidmetal Technologies (OTCMKTS:LQMT) Head to Head Analysis

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) and Liquidmetal Technologies (OTCMKTS:LQMT) are both industrials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, valuation, earnings and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Century Aluminum and Liquidmetal Technologies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Century Aluminum	4.94%	18.02%	6.21%
Liquidmetal Technologies	-199.61%	-7.00%	-6.70%

Risk and Volatility

Century Aluminum has a beta of 2.52, suggesting that its share price is 152% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Liquidmetal Technologies has a beta of 0.22, suggesting that its share price is 78% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

61.6% of Century Aluminum shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.1% of Liquidmetal Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of Century Aluminum shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 45.4% of Liquidmetal Technologies shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Century Aluminum and Liquidmetal Technologies, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Century Aluminum	0	1	3	2	3.17
Liquidmetal Technologies	0	0	0	0	0.00

Century Aluminum presently has a consensus target price of $28.50, indicating a potential downside of 5.91%. Given Century Aluminum’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Century Aluminum is more favorable than Liquidmetal Technologies.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Century Aluminum and Liquidmetal Technologies”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Century Aluminum	$2.22 billion	1.27	$336.80 million	$1.16	26.11
Liquidmetal Technologies	$860,000.00	141.65	-$1.51 million	N/A	N/A

Century Aluminum has higher revenue and earnings than Liquidmetal Technologies.

Summary

Century Aluminum beats Liquidmetal Technologies on 11 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

About Liquidmetal Technologies

Liquidmetal Technologies, Inc., a materials technology company, designs, develops, and sells custom products and parts from bulk amorphous alloys to various industries in the United States and internationally. The company provides bulk amorphous alloy custom products and parts for applications, which include non-consumer electronic devices, medical products, automotive components, and sports and leisure goods. It offers tooling and prototype parts, such as demonstration parts and test samples for customers with products in development; and engages in product licensing activities. In addition, the company partners with third-party manufacturers and licensees to develop and commercialize liquid metal alloy products. The company was incorporated in 1987 and is based in Lake Forest, California.