Investors Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Nexa Resources (NYSE:NEXA)

Nexa Resources S.A. (NYSE:NEXA) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Traders purchased 10,676 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 9,605% compared to the typical volume of 110 call options.

Nexa Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NEXA traded up $0.23 during trading on Thursday, reaching $6.38. The company had a trading volume of 189,694 shares, compared to its average volume of 48,241. The company has a fifty day moving average of $5.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $844.31 million, a P/E ratio of -53.12 and a beta of 0.84. Nexa Resources has a 12 month low of $4.44 and a 12 month high of $9.61.

Nexa Resources (NYSE:NEXA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.11 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $763.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $649.86 million. Nexa Resources had a negative return on equity of 8.80% and a negative net margin of 0.57%. Equities research analysts forecast that Nexa Resources will post 1.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Nexa Resources from $6.50 to $7.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Nexa Resources from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Nexa Resources in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $5.50 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Nexa Resources to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Nexa Resources in a research report on Tuesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $6.29.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nexa Resources

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of NEXA. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Nexa Resources by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 732,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,654,000 after buying an additional 26,829 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Nexa Resources in the 3rd quarter worth about $57,000. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Nexa Resources by 7.5% during the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 35,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $178,000 after purchasing an additional 2,504 shares during the last quarter.

Nexa Resources Company Profile

Nexa Resources SA, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the zinc mining and smelting business worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Mining and Smelting. It produces zinc, zamac, zinc oxide, and zincal, as well as by-products, such as copper, lead, silver, gold, copper sulfate, sulfuric acid, copper cementum, silver concentrate, slag aggregates, and cadmium/sponge deposits.