Ero Copper (NYSE:ERO) Shares Down 9.8% – Here’s Why

Ero Copper Corp. (NYSE:ERO)’s share price fell 9.8% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $28.05 and last traded at $27.7490. 436,500 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 1,543,093 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.76.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on ERO. National Bank Financial upgraded Ero Copper from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Bank of America downgraded Ero Copper from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Zacks Research cut Ero Copper from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Wall Street Zen cut Ero Copper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut Ero Copper from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.50.

Ero Copper Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The company has a market cap of $2.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.53 and a beta of 1.17.

Ero Copper (NYSE:ERO) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $263.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $245.51 million. Ero Copper had a return on equity of 29.86% and a net margin of 31.63%. As a group, analysts predict that Ero Copper Corp. will post 3.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ero Copper

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ero Copper by 2,198.1% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 88,729 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,798,000 after buying an additional 84,868 shares in the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Ero Copper in the third quarter valued at $12,599,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ero Copper in the third quarter valued at $1,267,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ero Copper in the fourth quarter valued at $1,142,000. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Ero Copper in the fourth quarter valued at $14,363,000. 71.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ero Copper

Ero Copper Corp (NYSE: ERO) is a Canada-based natural resource company focused on the production of copper concentrate from its Brazilian operations. The company’s flagship asset is the Vale do Curaçá mining complex in the state of Bahia, which includes multiple underground mines and a centralized processing facility. Ero Copper’s primary product is copper concentrate, which is sold to smelters and end users around the world.

The Vale do Curaçá complex comprises the Pilar and Surubim underground mines, supported by a fully integrated processing plant.