New Gold Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:NGD)

New Gold Inc. (NYSE:NGD) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders purchased 10,426 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 284% compared to the typical volume of 2,718 call options.

New Gold Stock Down 1.8 %

NYSE NGD opened at $2.80 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.21 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.05 and a beta of 1.30. New Gold has a 52 week low of $0.96 and a 52 week high of $3.25. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $2.61.

New Gold (NYSE:NGD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.01 by $0.01. New Gold had a negative net margin of 2.53% and a positive return on equity of 5.22%. The company had revenue of $218.20 million during the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that New Gold will post 0.15 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on NGD. CIBC increased their price target on New Gold from $3.00 to $3.40 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. StockNews.com upgraded New Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of New Gold to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of New Gold from $3.00 to $3.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on New Gold from $2.75 to $3.25 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $2.74.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On New Gold

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NGD. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in New Gold by 8.4% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 72,499,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,249,000 after buying an additional 5,613,145 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of New Gold by 13.5% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 20,111,264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,217,000 after acquiring an additional 2,399,200 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of New Gold by 57.3% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 16,328,086 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,229,000 after purchasing an additional 5,948,394 shares in the last quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP raised its stake in New Gold by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 10,101,164 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,748,000 after purchasing an additional 1,654,396 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Herr Investment Group LLC lifted its position in New Gold by 40.4% during the second quarter. Herr Investment Group LLC now owns 5,210,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,160,000 after purchasing an additional 1,499,745 shares during the last quarter. 42.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

New Gold Company Profile

New Gold Inc, an intermediate gold mining company, develops and operates of mineral properties in Canada. It primarily explores for gold, silver, and copper deposits. The company’s principal operating properties include 100% interest in the Rainy River mine located in Northwestern Ontario, Canada; and New Afton project situated in South-Central British Columbia.