Alamos Gold Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:AGI)

Alamos Gold Inc. (NYSE:AGI) (TSE:AGI) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 12,042 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 171% compared to the average daily volume of 4,438 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America decreased their target price on Alamos Gold from $31.00 to $30.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Alamos Gold from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Alamos Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 6th. Finally, National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Alamos Gold to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alamos Gold presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $27.63.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alamos Gold

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Old West Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alamos Gold by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. Old West Investment Management LLC now owns 485,892 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,689,000 after acquiring an additional 48,128 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in Alamos Gold by 4.0% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 18,798 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $375,000 after purchasing an additional 728 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alamos Gold during the third quarter valued at $545,000. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in Alamos Gold during the third quarter valued at $207,000. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Alamos Gold by 46.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 322,402 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,428,000 after buying an additional 102,525 shares in the last quarter. 64.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alamos Gold Trading Up 5.6 %

Alamos Gold stock opened at $28.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $24.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.16. Alamos Gold has a 1 year low of $14.31 and a 1 year high of $28.47. The stock has a market cap of $11.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.60, a PEG ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.02.

Alamos Gold (NYSE:AGI) (TSE:AGI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.01. Alamos Gold had a net margin of 21.11% and a return on equity of 10.05%. The company had revenue of $375.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $388.06 million. On average, equities analysts predict that Alamos Gold will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alamos Gold Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were given a $0.025 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. Alamos Gold’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.49%.

About Alamos Gold

Alamos Gold Inc engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and extraction of precious metals in Canada and Mexico. The company primarily explores for gold deposits. It holds 100% interest in the Young-Davidson mine and Island Gold mine located in the Ontario, Canada; Mulatos mine located in the Sonora, Mexico; and Lynn Lake project situated in the Manitoba, Canada.