First Quantum Minerals (OTCMKTS:FQVLF) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (OTCMKTS:FQVLF)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $28.4850, but opened at $31.02. First Quantum Minerals shares last traded at $30.68, with a volume of 2,180 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FQVLF has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of First Quantum Minerals in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. UBS Group upgraded First Quantum Minerals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Morgan Stanley upgraded First Quantum Minerals from an “overweight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating on shares of First Quantum Minerals in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, TD Securities reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of First Quantum Minerals in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

First Quantum Minerals Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company has a market cap of $25.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -123.92 and a beta of 1.33.

First Quantum Minerals (OTCMKTS:FQVLF) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported ($0.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.04 by ($0.22). First Quantum Minerals had a negative return on equity of 1.21% and a negative net margin of 3.69%.The business had revenue of $1.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.36 billion. As a group, analysts predict that First Quantum Minerals Ltd. will post 0.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Quantum Minerals Company Profile

First Quantum Minerals Ltd. is a Canada-based mining company principally engaged in the exploration, development, production and marketing of copper and other mineral commodities. Headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, the company develops and operates large-scale open-pit and underground mines and associated processing facilities. Its activities span the full value chain from exploration and feasibility studies through to mining, milling and the sale of concentrates and refined metals to global customers.

Copper is the company’s primary product, produced alongside by-products such as gold, nickel, zinc and cobalt depending on the orebody.