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

Ero Copper Corp. (NYSE:ERO) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Investors bought 4,598 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 57% compared to the average volume of 2,936 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ERO has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Ero Copper in a report on Monday, December 8th. TD Securities downgraded Ero Copper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Zacks Research lowered Ero Copper from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut Ero Copper from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Ero Copper in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ero Copper has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.00.

Ero Copper Trading Up 2.6%

NYSE:ERO opened at $26.19 on Friday. Ero Copper has a 12-month low of $9.30 and a 12-month high of $26.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.35. The firm has a market cap of $2.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.69 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ero Copper

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ero Copper by 20.2% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 58,295 shares of the company’s stock valued at $706,000 after purchasing an additional 9,810 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ero Copper in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,025,000. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Ero Copper by 22.6% in the first quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 8,033 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 1,483 shares in the last quarter. Sprott Inc. grew its holdings in Ero Copper by 64.3% during the first quarter. Sprott Inc. now owns 748,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,068,000 after acquiring an additional 292,896 shares during the period. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its position in Ero Copper by 25.6% in the first quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 52,845 shares of the company’s stock worth $640,000 after acquiring an additional 10,764 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.30% of the company’s stock.

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.