Ero Copper Corp. (NYSE:ERO) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Ero Copper Corp. (NYSE:ERO) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from analysts, with a target price set at $23.50.
• The company recently reported earnings of $0.35 per share, exceeding estimates, but its revenue of $125.10 million fell short of expectations.
• Institutional investors now hold 71.30% of Ero Copper's stock, indicating strong interest from major investment entities.

Ero Copper Corp. (NYSE:ERO - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twelve research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $23.50.

ERO has been the topic of several recent research reports. National Bank Financial downgraded Ero Copper from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. TD Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Ero Copper in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ero Copper from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. Stifel Canada raised Ero Copper to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Desjardins started coverage on Ero Copper in a research report on Friday, April 4th. They issued a "hold" rating for the company.

Ero Copper Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ERO traded down $0.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $13.84. 373,448 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 557,980. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Ero Copper has a twelve month low of $9.30 and a twelve month high of $23.40. The company has a market cap of $1.43 billion, a PE ratio of 81.35 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.61.

Ero Copper (NYSE:ERO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.18. Ero Copper had a return on equity of 14.24% and a net margin of 3.87%. The company had revenue of $125.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $179.45 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ero Copper will post 0.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ERO. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Ero Copper during the 4th quarter worth approximately $991,000. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in shares of Ero Copper by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 194,100 shares of the company's stock worth $2,616,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ero Copper in the fourth quarter worth approximately $162,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ero Copper by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 599,645 shares of the company's stock worth $8,085,000 after purchasing an additional 3,241 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Ero Copper by 66.7% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 50,897 shares of the company's stock worth $686,000 after purchasing an additional 20,371 shares during the last quarter. 71.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ero Copper

Ero Copper Corp. engages in the exploration, development, and production of mining projects in Brazil. The company is involved in the production and sale of copper concentrate from the Caraíba operations located in the Curaçá Valley, northeastern Bahia state, Brazil, as well as gold and silver by-products.