YPF Sociedad Anónima Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:YPF)

YPF Sociedad Anónima (NYSE:YPF) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors bought 7,073 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 51% compared to the average daily volume of 4,695 put options.

YPF Sociedad Anónima Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima stock opened at $37.26 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $37.25 and a 200 day moving average of $34.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.82, a PEG ratio of 0.18 and a beta of 1.89. YPF Sociedad Anónima has a fifty-two week low of $16.18 and a fifty-two week high of $47.43.

YPF Sociedad Anónima (NYSE:YPF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 7th. The oil and gas exploration company reported ($0.74) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($1.25). The business had revenue of $4.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.86 billion. YPF Sociedad Anónima had a net margin of 4.15% and a return on equity of 32.76%. As a group, research analysts predict that YPF Sociedad Anónima will post 7.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on YPF shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $25.00 to $59.50 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $38.00 target price (up from $30.00) on shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Citigroup cut YPF Sociedad Anónima from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $33.00 to $44.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded YPF Sociedad Anónima from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $55.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.02.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,427 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $103,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Preferred LLC purchased a new position in shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima by 41.3% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 3,829 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $163,000 after purchasing an additional 1,119 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in YPF Sociedad Anónima by 130.3% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,211 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 1,251 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC raised its position in YPF Sociedad Anónima by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 21,570 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $917,000 after purchasing an additional 2,215 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 10.08% of the company’s stock.

YPF Sociedad Anónima Company Profile

YPF Sociedad Anónima, an energy company, engages in the oil and gas upstream and downstream activities in Argentina. Its upstream operations include the exploration, exploitation, and production of crude oil, and natural gas. The company’s downstream operations include petrochemical production and crude oil refining; transportation and distribution refined and petrochemical products; commercialization of crude oil, petrochemical products, and specialties.