Gold Fields Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:GFI)

Gold Fields Limited (NYSE:GFI) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Investors bought 155,470 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 4,809% compared to the typical daily volume of 3,167 call options.

Institutional Trading of Gold Fields

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Gold Fields by 258.4% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 400,680 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,289,000 after acquiring an additional 288,887 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Gold Fields by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 21,349 shares of the company’s stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 2,111 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of Gold Fields by 76.7% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 91,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,207,000 after acquiring an additional 39,669 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Gold Fields by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 127,470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,683,000 after acquiring an additional 19,501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Graham Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Gold Fields during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $224,000. 24.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gold Fields Stock Up 2.8%

GFI opened at $38.00 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $34.01 billion, a PE ratio of 16.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Gold Fields has a 52 week low of $12.98 and a 52 week high of $38.04. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.60.

Gold Fields Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.3993 per share. This is an increase from Gold Fields’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.38. This represents a dividend yield of 130.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. Gold Fields’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GFI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Gold Fields from $24.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group initiated coverage on Gold Fields in a research report on Monday, July 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $33.00 target price for the company. Capital One Financial set a $32.00 target price on Gold Fields in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Gold Fields from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Gold Fields presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.11.

About Gold Fields

Gold Fields Limited operates as a gold producer with reserves and resources in Chile, South Africa, Ghana, Canada, Australia, and Peru. It also explores for copper and silver deposits. The company was founded in 1887 and is based in Sandton, South Africa.