Traders Purchase Large Volume of Gold Fields Call Options (NYSE:GFI)

Gold Fields Limited (NYSE:GFI) was the target of unusually large options trading on Friday. Investors acquired 6,817 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 77% compared to the typical daily volume of 3,853 call options.

Gold Fields Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:GFI opened at $17.65 on Friday. Gold Fields has a 1 year low of $10.31 and a 1 year high of $18.97. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $15.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.80 billion, a PE ratio of 11.10 and a beta of 1.13.

Gold Fields (NYSE:GFI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.10. Analysts expect that Gold Fields will post 1.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gold Fields Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.1717 dividend. This represents a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Gold Fields’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.17. Gold Fields’s payout ratio is 22.01%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Gold Fields in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of Gold Fields by 900.0% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in Gold Fields by 100.8% in the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,741 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 1,376 shares during the period. Money Concepts Capital Corp acquired a new stake in Gold Fields during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Chiron Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gold Fields during the 1st quarter valued at $68,000. Institutional investors own 26.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on GFI shares. Scotiabank decreased their price target on Gold Fields from $15.50 to $15.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Gold Fields from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. BMO Capital Markets cut Gold Fields from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $14.00 to $12.00 in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, UBS Group cut Gold Fields from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Gold Fields has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.67.

About Gold Fields

Gold Fields Limited operates as a gold producer with reserves and resources in Chile, South Africa, Ghana, Canada, Australia, and Peru. It also explores for copper and silver deposits. The company was founded in 1887 and is based in Sandton, South Africa.