Traders Purchase Large Volume of Put Options on YPF Sociedad Anónima (NYSE:YPF)

YPF Sociedad Anónima (NYSE:YPF) saw some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders acquired 7,065 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 42% compared to the typical daily volume of 4,961 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On YPF Sociedad Anónima

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima by 2,877.9% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,051,599 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $18,077,000 after buying an additional 1,016,286 shares during the period. Fourth Sail Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima during the 1st quarter worth about $14,576,000. RWC Asset Management LLP acquired a new position in YPF Sociedad Anónima in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $10,745,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima by 307.2% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 639,116 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $12,655,000 after buying an additional 482,178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in YPF Sociedad Anónima in the fourth quarter valued at $7,471,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 10.08% of the company’s stock.

YPF Sociedad Anónima Price Performance

Shares of NYSE YPF opened at $18.44 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market cap of $7.25 billion, a PE ratio of -7.20 and a beta of 1.89. YPF Sociedad Anónima has a one year low of $9.57 and a one year high of $24.76. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $20.42 and a 200 day moving average of $19.88.

YPF Sociedad Anónima (NYSE:YPF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.68. YPF Sociedad Anónima had a negative net margin of 5.78% and a positive return on equity of 20.70%. The firm had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.16 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that YPF Sociedad Anónima will post 5.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on YPF Sociedad Anónima from $18.50 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Bank of America upgraded shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. StockNews.com cut shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima from $22.90 to $25.60 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $20.00 to $24.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.18.

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.