Ero Copper Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:ERO)

Ero Copper Corp. (NYSE:ERO) was the target of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 16,093 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 273% compared to the average volume of 4,316 call options.

Ero Copper Stock Up 4.9%

NYSE:ERO opened at $37.86 on Friday. Ero Copper has a 1 year low of $9.30 and a 1 year high of $39.80. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $27.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.24. The stock has a market cap of $3.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.46 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Ero Copper (NYSE:ERO) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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). Ero Copper had a net margin of 23.44% and a return on equity of 17.07%. The company had revenue of $177.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $309.30 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ero Copper will post 0.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on ERO. CIBC reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Ero Copper in a report on Friday, December 5th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Ero Copper to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Cibc World Mkts lowered shares of Ero Copper from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of Ero Copper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ero Copper in a research report on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in Ero Copper by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 188,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,283,000 after acquiring an additional 4,325 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Ero Copper in the first quarter worth $217,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ero Copper by 82.0% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 275,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,340,000 after purchasing an additional 124,179 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in Ero Copper in the first quarter valued at $356,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Ero Copper by 56.2% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,460,342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,616,000 after buying an additional 525,252 shares during the last quarter. 71.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ero Copper Company Profile

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.