Centrus Energy (NYSE:LEU) Trading Up 8.7% – Time to Buy?

Centrus Energy Corp. (NYSE:LEU)’s stock price rose 8.7% on Monday . The company traded as high as $179.82 and last traded at $176.2150. 355,104 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 64% from the average session volume of 990,237 shares. The stock had previously closed at $162.13.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on LEU shares. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Centrus Energy from $224.00 to $218.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Roth Capital cut their price target on shares of Centrus Energy from $230.00 to $195.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Weiss Ratings downgraded Centrus Energy from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. B. Riley Financial decreased their price objective on Centrus Energy from $315.00 to $295.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Centrus Energy from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Centrus Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $271.18.

Centrus Energy Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $181.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $215.28. The firm has a market cap of $3.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 21.29 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 4.88 and a current ratio of 5.72.

Centrus Energy (NYSE:LEU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.72. Centrus Energy had a net margin of 13.40% and a return on equity of 13.10%. The firm had revenue of $76.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $76.13 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.60 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Centrus Energy Corp. will post 2.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Todd M. Tinelli sold 306 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.55, for a total value of $62,286.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centrus Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LEU. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Centrus Energy by 126.0% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 371,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,265,000 after buying an additional 207,316 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Centrus Energy by 25.9% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 780,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $242,161,000 after acquiring an additional 160,482 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Centrus Energy by 43.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 473,145 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,861,000 after acquiring an additional 143,069 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in Centrus Energy by 217.4% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 160,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,868,000 after acquiring an additional 109,960 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Man Group plc raised its position in Centrus Energy by 2,303.8% during the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 114,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,684,000 after acquiring an additional 109,293 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.96% of the company’s stock.

About Centrus Energy

Centrus Energy Corp is a U.S.-based supplier of nuclear fuel and enrichment services, specializing in the production of low-enriched uranium (LEU) for commercial power reactors and highly enriched uranium for naval propulsion. Through its Centrus Global subsidiary, the company provides technical support, fuel fabrication services and recycled uranium products to utilities operating light-water reactors. Centrus also develops advanced centrifuge technologies aimed at improving enrichment efficiency and reducing the cost of nuclear fuel.

Originally founded as the United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC) in 1998 following a spin-out from the U.S.