Traders Purchase Large Volume of IAMGOLD Put Options (NYSE:IAG)

IAMGOLD Co. (NYSE:IAG) (TSE:IMG) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Investors acquired 5,008 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 143% compared to the average daily volume of 2,057 put options.

Institutional Trading of IAMGOLD

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tobam acquired a new stake in shares of IAMGOLD during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of IAMGOLD by 157.1% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 9,018 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 5,511 shares during the period. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of IAMGOLD in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in IAMGOLD during the 4th quarter worth approximately $68,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in IAMGOLD during the 3rd quarter valued at $700,000. 47.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on IAG shares. StockNews.com upgraded IAMGOLD from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded IAMGOLD from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. CIBC upgraded shares of IAMGOLD from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of IAMGOLD from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $6.57.

IAMGOLD Price Performance

Shares of IAMGOLD stock traded down $0.24 on Thursday, hitting $5.60. The company had a trading volume of 3,750,704 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,030,677. IAMGOLD has a 52 week low of $2.53 and a 52 week high of $6.69. The company has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a PE ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 1.56. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.61.

IAMGOLD (NYSE:IAG) (TSE:IMG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The mining company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) 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. Research analysts expect that IAMGOLD will post 0.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.