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

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on IAG shares. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of IAMGOLD from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Raymond James raised shares of IAMGOLD from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of IAMGOLD from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, CIBC raised shares of IAMGOLD from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $6.57.

IAMGOLD Stock Performance

IAG stock traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $6.07. 10,302,598 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,427,703. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.61. 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 one year low of $2.90 and a one year high of $6.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 1.63.

IAMGOLD (NYSE:IAG) (TSE:IMG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The mining company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.05). IAMGOLD had a return on equity of 10.64% and a net margin of 50.19%. The firm had revenue of $469.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $498.68 million. Equities research analysts forecast that IAMGOLD will post 0.67 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IAMGOLD

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of IAG. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. grew its position in IAMGOLD by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 31,233,874 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $161,167,000 after acquiring an additional 216,751 shares during the last quarter. RCF Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in IAMGOLD in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $128,174,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in IAMGOLD by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,232,871 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $109,741,000 after acquiring an additional 321,458 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in IAMGOLD by 88.4% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 10,330,194 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $53,307,000 after buying an additional 4,846,254 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in IAMGOLD by 25.9% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 10,162,314 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $52,499,000 after buying an additional 2,092,803 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.08% of the company’s stock.

IAMGOLD Company Profile

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.