Novagold Resources (NYSEAMERICAN:NG) Stock Price Up 9.4% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Novagold shares rose 9.4% on Friday to about $11.09 (intraday high $11.20) while trading volume was ~828,933 shares, roughly 79% below the stock's average daily volume.
• Analysts are broadly positive—eight Buy ratings and one Hold yield a consensus price target of $13.26, with recent calls including Morgan Stanley's "overweight" ($13.80) and B. Riley raising its target to $13.
• Institutional ownership is high at 57.56% with large inflows (Electrum's new position cited at about $865.9M) and a recent insider purchase of 4,000 shares by director Dawn Whittaker at $9.36.

Novagold Resources Inc. (NYSEAMERICAN:NG - Get Free Report) TSE: NG rose 9.4% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $11.20 and last traded at $11.0850. Approximately 828,933 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 3,961,717 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.13.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Novagold Resources from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 30th. B. Riley Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Novagold Resources from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group initiated coverage on shares of Novagold Resources in a research report on Friday, March 27th. They issued a "speculative buy" rating and a $13.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Novagold Resources from $18.00 to $14.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Novagold Resources in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $13.80 price objective on the stock. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $13.26.

Novagold Resources Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $4.80 billion, a PE ratio of -42.08 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 88.72 and a current ratio of 88.72. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $10.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.73.

Insider Transactions at Novagold Resources

In other news, Director Dawn Patricia Whittaker bought 4,000 shares of Novagold Resources stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $9.36 per share, for a total transaction of $37,440.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 4,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,440. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.67% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Electrum Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novagold Resources during the 4th quarter valued at about $865,854,000. Capital World Investors increased its position in Novagold Resources by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,666,000 shares of the mining company's stock worth $155,461,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000,000 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Novagold Resources by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,760,990 shares of the mining company's stock worth $137,647,000 after purchasing an additional 173,474 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its position in Novagold Resources by 21.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 13,617,880 shares of the mining company's stock worth $119,837,000 after purchasing an additional 2,443,511 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Novagold Resources by 29.2% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,159,352 shares of the mining company's stock worth $71,802,000 after purchasing an additional 1,842,582 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.56% of the company's stock.

About Novagold Resources

Novagold Resources Inc is a mineral exploration and development company headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. The firm is focused on advancing large-scale precious metals projects through disciplined project management, environmental stewardship and community engagement. Novagold maintains a lean corporate structure while leveraging partnerships and industry expertise to advance its projects toward production.

The company's flagship asset is the Donlin Gold project in Alaska, a 50/50 joint venture with Barrick Gold Corporation.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.