Short Interest in IAMGOLD Co. (NYSE:IAG) Increases By 35.1%

IAMGOLD Co. (NYSE:IAG) (TSE:IMG) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 8,700,000 shares, an increase of 35.1% from the February 13th total of 6,440,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 10,590,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.8 days. Currently, 1.6% of the company’s shares are sold short.

IAMGOLD Price Performance

Shares of IAMGOLD stock traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $6.06. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,617,611 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,442,746. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $5.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.51. IAMGOLD has a 12-month low of $2.90 and a 12-month high of $6.69. The company has a market cap of $3.46 billion, a PE ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.89.

IAMGOLD (NYSE:IAG) (TSE:IMG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The mining company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.05). IAMGOLD had a net margin of 50.19% and a return on equity of 10.64%. The business had revenue of $469.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $498.68 million. Analysts expect that IAMGOLD will post 0.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IAMGOLD

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co purchased a new position in shares of IAMGOLD in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,241,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of IAMGOLD in the fourth quarter worth about $5,832,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of IAMGOLD by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 5,123,756 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $26,456,000 after buying an additional 338,297 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of IAMGOLD by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 600,647 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $3,099,000 after buying an additional 5,053 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of IAMGOLD by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 1,520,218 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $7,844,000 after buying an additional 76,856 shares in the last quarter. 47.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IAG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. CIBC upgraded IAMGOLD from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. StockNews.com lowered IAMGOLD from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Raymond James raised IAMGOLD from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Cibc World Mkts raised IAMGOLD from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $6.57.

About IAMGOLD

IAMGOLD Corporation, through its subsidiaries, operates as an intermediate gold producer and developer in Canada and Burkina Faso. It owns 100% interest in the Westwood project that covers an area of 1,925 hectare and located in Quebec; a 60% interest in the Côté gold project, which covers an area of 596 square kilometer located in Ontario, Canada; and a 90% interests in the Essakane project that covers an area of 274,000 square kilometer situated in Burkina Faso.