Investors Buy Large Volume of Put Options on Seabridge Gold (NYSE:SA)

Seabridge Gold Inc. (NYSE:SA) (TSE:SEA) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 3,395 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 42% compared to the typical volume of 2,384 put options.

Seabridge Gold Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:SA opened at $15.16 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $14.17 and a 200-day moving average of $12.33. The company has a market capitalization of $1.32 billion, a PE ratio of -38.87 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 2.38. Seabridge Gold has a 52-week low of $9.31 and a 52-week high of $16.71.

Seabridge Gold (NYSE:SA) (TSE:SEA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 27th. The basic materials company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by ($0.29). On average, equities analysts predict that Seabridge Gold will post 0.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Seabridge Gold to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st.

Institutional Trading of Seabridge Gold

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SA. Kopernik Global Investors LLC increased its holdings in Seabridge Gold by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. Kopernik Global Investors LLC now owns 3,189,304 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $38,686,000 after purchasing an additional 460,895 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its holdings in Seabridge Gold by 53.4% in the fourth quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 543,193 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,584,000 after purchasing an additional 189,096 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Seabridge Gold by 5.1% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,680,468 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $55,649,000 after purchasing an additional 178,672 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Seabridge Gold in the first quarter valued at $2,453,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in Seabridge Gold by 21.6% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 806,037 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,777,000 after purchasing an additional 143,321 shares during the period. 34.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Seabridge Gold

Seabridge Gold Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition and exploration of gold properties in North America. The company also explores for gold, copper, silver, and molybdenum deposits. The company was formerly known as Seabridge Resources Inc and changed its name to Seabridge Gold Inc in June 2002.