Eldorado Gold Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:EGO)

Eldorado Gold Co. (NYSE:EGO) (TSE:ELD) was the target of some unusual options trading on Friday. Investors bought 12,889 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 718% compared to the average volume of 1,575 call options.

Eldorado Gold Stock Performance

NYSE:EGO opened at $15.12 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.71. Eldorado Gold has a 52-week low of $8.30 and a 52-week high of $15.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.53 and a current ratio of 3.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a PE ratio of 28.53 and a beta of 1.10.

Eldorado Gold (NYSE:EGO) (TSE:ELD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $306.90 million during the quarter. Eldorado Gold had a return on equity of 3.56% and a net margin of 10.54%. Analysts forecast that Eldorado Gold will post 0.67 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eldorado Gold

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Profund Advisors LLC raised its position in Eldorado Gold by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 16,243 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $211,000 after purchasing an additional 1,015 shares during the period. Shell Asset Management Co. boosted its position in Eldorado Gold by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 15,900 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $143,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its position in Eldorado Gold by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 60,485 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $627,000 after acquiring an additional 1,322 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its position in Eldorado Gold by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 14,553 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $130,000 after acquiring an additional 1,343 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Credit Suisse AG boosted its position in shares of Eldorado Gold by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Credit Suisse AG now owns 152,298 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,273,000 after purchasing an additional 1,368 shares in the last quarter. 69.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on EGO shares. National Bank Financial reissued an “outperform spec overweight” rating on shares of Eldorado Gold in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Eldorado Gold in a research report on Friday, January 26th. TD Securities cut their target price on Eldorado Gold from $14.50 to $13.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 26th. CIBC raised their price target on Eldorado Gold from $16.50 to $18.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Stifel Canada cut Eldorado Gold from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $14.00.

Eldorado Gold Company Profile

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.