Ero Copper Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:ERO)

Ero Copper Corp. (NYSE:ERO) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Traders purchased 16,093 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 273% compared to the typical daily volume of 4,316 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ero Copper

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Ero Copper by 77.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,546,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,051,000 after purchasing an additional 1,112,428 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ero Copper in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,142,000. NBC Securities Inc. grew its position in Ero Copper by 397.9% in the fourth quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 9,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $276,000 after acquiring an additional 7,798 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its stake in Ero Copper by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 17,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $503,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in Ero Copper by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 36,226 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,026,000 after purchasing an additional 2,834 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ERO. Canaccord Genuity Group raised Ero Copper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. CIBC reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Ero Copper in a research note on Friday, December 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Ero Copper from $25.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ero Copper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, Ventum Cap Mkts raised shares of Ero Copper to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.50.

Ero Copper Price Performance

NYSE ERO traded up $1.88 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $37.98. 3,622,645 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,317,528. The company has a market capitalization of $3.96 billion, a PE ratio of 28.71 and a beta of 1.22. 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 52-week low of $9.30 and a 52-week high of $39.80. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $27.58 and its 200-day moving average is $21.12.

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

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.