Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of YPF Sociedad Anónima Put Options (NYSE:YPF)

YPF Sociedad Anónima (NYSE:YPF) saw unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors bought 7,073 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 51% compared to the average daily volume of 4,695 put options.

YPF Sociedad Anónima Price Performance

Shares of YPF stock traded up $1.51 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $37.68. 978,684 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,019,458. YPF Sociedad Anónima has a twelve month low of $16.18 and a twelve month high of $47.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.88. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.18. The firm has a market cap of $14.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.18 and a beta of 1.89.

YPF Sociedad Anónima (NYSE:YPF) last released its earnings results on Friday, March 7th. The oil and gas exploration company reported ($0.74) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($1.25). YPF Sociedad Anónima had a return on equity of 32.76% and a net margin of 4.15%. The firm had revenue of $4.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.86 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that YPF Sociedad Anónima will post 7.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on YPF. Bank of America upgraded shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com downgraded YPF Sociedad Anónima from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded YPF Sociedad Anónima from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $25.00 to $59.50 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $38.00 price target (up previously from $30.00) on shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Citigroup lowered YPF Sociedad Anónima from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $33.00 to $44.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.02.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On YPF Sociedad Anónima

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Advisors Preferred LLC bought a new stake in YPF Sociedad Anónima during the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima by 130.3% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,211 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 1,251 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,427 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $103,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Verde Servicos Internacionais S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima during the fourth quarter worth $128,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima by 41.3% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 3,829 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $163,000 after purchasing an additional 1,119 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 10.08% of the company’s stock.

YPF Sociedad Anónima Company Profile

YPF Sociedad Anónima, an energy company, engages in the oil and gas upstream and downstream activities in Argentina. Its upstream operations include the exploration, exploitation, and production of crude oil, and natural gas. The company’s downstream operations include petrochemical production and crude oil refining; transportation and distribution refined and petrochemical products; commercialization of crude oil, petrochemical products, and specialties.