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

New Gold Inc. (NYSE:NGD) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Traders bought 14,923 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 237% compared to the average volume of 4,426 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On New Gold

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of New Gold by 941.8% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 10,418 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 9,418 shares during the period. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in New Gold during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Scientech Research LLC purchased a new position in New Gold during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Rathbones Group PLC purchased a new stake in shares of New Gold in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC acquired a new position in New Gold in the third quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on NGD shares. StockNews.com upgraded New Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of New Gold from $3.00 to $3.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on New Gold from $2.75 to $3.25 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, New Gold presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $3.41.

New Gold Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NGD traded up $0.24 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $2.96. The stock had a trading volume of 7,241,289 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,238,715. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $2.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a market capitalization of $2.34 billion, a PE ratio of 146.00 and a beta of 1.32. New Gold has a 1 year low of $1.09 and a 1 year high of $3.25.

New Gold (NYSE:NGD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.04 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $252.00 million for the quarter. New Gold had a net margin of 2.33% and a return on equity of 9.38%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that New Gold will post 0.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About New Gold

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.