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

Ero Copper Corp. (NYSE:ERO) saw some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 16,093 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 273% compared to the typical volume of 4,316 call options.

Ero Copper Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ERO opened at $33.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.46. Ero Copper has a 1 year low of $9.30 and a 1 year high of $39.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.50 billion, a PE ratio of 25.23 and a beta of 1.22. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $28.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.37.

Ero Copper (NYSE:ERO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.09). The business 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ero Copper will post 0.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ERO shares. Freedom Capital upgraded Ero Copper to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. CIBC reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Ero Copper in a research report on Friday, December 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Ero Copper from $25.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Ventum Cap Mkts raised Ero Copper to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Ero Copper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Three research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ero Copper currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda lifted its position in Ero Copper by 86.0% during the third quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda now owns 1,076,696 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,782,000 after buying an additional 497,978 shares in the last quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC increased its stake in shares of Ero Copper by 21.5% in the 2nd quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 1,354,239 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,819,000 after acquiring an additional 239,935 shares during the last quarter. Impala Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ero Copper by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Impala Asset Management LLC now owns 1,699,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,494,000 after acquiring an additional 49,199 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of Ero Copper by 37.5% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 889,154 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,979,000 after acquiring an additional 242,594 shares during the period. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ero Copper by 12.3% during the 2nd quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 303,008 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,039,000 after acquiring an additional 33,146 shares during the last quarter. 71.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.