Shares of Century Aluminum Co. shot up 5.0% in premarket trade Wednesday, after the aluminum producer was upgraded at J.P. Morgan, which cited President Trump’s tariff plan and the company’s subsequent decision to restart idled plants. Analyst Michael Gambardella raised his rating to overweight from neutral, and boosted his stock price target to $29 from $18. The stock hasn’t closed above $29 since November 2014. The company said this week that it was restarting three potlines at its smelter in Hawesville, Kentucky that have been curtailed since mid-to-late 2015. “We expect [Century] to benefit significantly from a higher all-in aluminum price and the company’s greater earnings base from Hawesville, leading to higher earnings and cash flow,” Gambardella wrote in a note to clients. Century Aluminum’s stock has run up 37.7% over the past three months, while the SPDR Materials Select Sector ETF has gained 3.2% and the S&P 500 has tacked on 4.3%.
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