Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Sibanye Gold (NYSE:SBSW)

Key Points

• Unusually heavy call-option activity targeted Sibanye Gold, with 136,234 call options purchased—about 2,506% above the average daily volume.
• Analyst views remain mixed: Citigroup upgraded the stock to “buy,” while other firms adjusted price targets or maintained neutral ratings. The consensus rating is “Hold,” with an average target price of $16.32.
• SBSW shares rose to $12.05, while institutional investors increased their holdings and the company declared a $0.4985 per-share dividend payable October 6 to shareholders of record September 18.

Sibanye Gold Limited (NYSE:SBSW - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 136,234 call options on the company. This is an increase of 2,506% compared to the average daily volume of 5,227 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SBSW. Citigroup upgraded shares of Sibanye Gold from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $13.50 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on Sibanye Gold from $16.50 to $15.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Sibanye Gold from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, September 7th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Sibanye Gold from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Sunday, September 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Sibanye Gold from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $16.32.

Sibanye Gold Stock Performance

SBSW traded up $0.45 during trading on Thursday, reaching $12.05. 5,295,266 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,021,559. The company's fifty day moving average price is $10.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.38. Sibanye Gold has a fifty-two week low of $7.87 and a fifty-two week high of $21.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 1.37.

Sibanye Gold Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 6th. Investors of record on Friday, September 18th will be given a $0.4985 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 795.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 18th.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Richard Menell bought 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $2.19 per share, for a total transaction of $32,850.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 25,125 shares of the company's stock, valued at $55,023.75. This represents a 148.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.05% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Sibanye Gold by 21.7% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,903,127 shares of the company's stock worth $109,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,587,183 shares during the period. Goehring & Rozencwajg Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Sibanye Gold by 20.6% in the 1st quarter. Goehring & Rozencwajg Associates LLC now owns 4,270,069 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,607,000 after buying an additional 730,389 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Sibanye Gold by 31.1% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,762,347 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,977,000 after buying an additional 655,929 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in Sibanye Gold by 28.7% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,255,549 shares of the company's stock worth $32,142,000 after buying an additional 503,180 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Sibanye Gold during the 1st quarter worth $22,507,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 34.93% of the company's stock.

About Sibanye Gold

Sibanye-Stillwater, formerly known as Sibanye Gold, is a multinational mining and metals company headquartered in South Africa. The company was established in 2012 through the restructuring of Gold Fields' South African assets and adopted the Sibanye-Stillwater name in 2016 as it expanded beyond gold mining.

The company produces gold, platinum-group metals (PGMs), and associated by-products. Its operations have included gold mines in South Africa; platinum, palladium, rhodium and other PGM assets in South Africa and the United States; and PGM recycling activities.

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