Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Ero Copper (NYSE:ERO)

Ero Copper Corp. (NYSE:ERO) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Investors acquired 16,093 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 273% compared to the average volume of 4,316 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ero Copper

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ERO. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Ero Copper by 77.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,546,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,051,000 after acquiring an additional 1,112,428 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ero Copper during the 4th quarter worth $1,142,000. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ero Copper by 397.9% during the fourth quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 9,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $276,000 after purchasing an additional 7,798 shares during the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ero Copper by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 17,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $503,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in shares of Ero Copper by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 36,226 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,026,000 after purchasing an additional 2,834 shares during the period. 71.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group raised Ero Copper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ero Copper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Ero Copper from $25.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Ero Copper in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ero Copper in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.50.

Ero Copper Price Performance

Ero Copper stock traded up $1.88 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $37.98. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,622,645 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,317,528. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.96 billion, a PE ratio of 28.71 and a beta of 1.22. Ero Copper has a fifty-two week low of $9.30 and a fifty-two week high of $39.80. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Ero Copper (NYSE:ERO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $177.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $309.30 million. Ero Copper had a return on equity of 17.07% and a net margin of 23.44%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ero Copper will post 0.71 earnings per share for the current year.

About Ero Copper

Ero Copper Corp (NYSE: ERO) is a Canada-based natural resource company focused on the production of copper concentrate from its Brazilian operations. The company’s flagship asset is the Vale do Curaçá mining complex in the state of Bahia, which includes multiple underground mines and a centralized processing facility. Ero Copper’s primary product is copper concentrate, which is sold to smelters and end users around the world.

The Vale do Curaçá complex comprises the Pilar and Surubim underground mines, supported by a fully integrated processing plant.