Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Eldorado Gold (NYSE:EGO)

Eldorado Gold Co. (NYSE:EGO) (TSE:ELD) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Friday. Investors acquired 4,495 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 269% compared to the average volume of 1,217 call options.

Institutional Trading of Eldorado Gold

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EGO. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its position in Eldorado Gold by 26.5% during the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 3,252 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 682 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Eldorado Gold during the 4th quarter valued at $55,000. Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. bought a new position in shares of Eldorado Gold during the 4th quarter valued at $113,000. Tradition Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Eldorado Gold during the fourth quarter valued at about $153,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Eldorado Gold during the fourth quarter valued at about $183,000. Institutional investors own 69.58% of the company’s stock.

Eldorado Gold Price Performance

EGO stock opened at $19.30 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.90. The stock has a market cap of $3.96 billion, a PE ratio of 13.79 and a beta of 0.81. Eldorado Gold has a one year low of $13.29 and a one year high of $19.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 3.37 and a quick ratio of 2.54.

Eldorado Gold (NYSE:EGO) (TSE:ELD) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.13. Eldorado Gold had a net margin of 21.86% and a return on equity of 8.74%. The company had revenue of $435.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $440.43 million. On average, analysts predict that Eldorado Gold will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on EGO shares. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Eldorado Gold to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Eldorado Gold from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Eldorado Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Eldorado Gold from $18.50 to $16.50 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.75.

About Eldorado Gold

Eldorado Gold Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the mining, exploration, development, and sale of mineral products primarily in Turkey, Canada, Greece, and Romania. The company primarily produces gold, as well as silver, lead, and zinc. It holds a 100% interest in the Kisladag and Efemçukuru mines located in Turkey; Lamaque complex located in Canada; and Olympias, Stratoni, Skouries, Perama Hill, and Sapes gold mines located in Greece, as well as the 80.5% interest in Certej development projects located in Romania.