Investors Purchase High Volume of IAMGOLD Call Options (NYSE:IAG)

IAMGOLD Co. (NYSE:IAG) (TSE:IMG) saw some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Traders acquired 4,720 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 116% compared to the typical volume of 2,183 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IAG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. CIBC reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of IAMGOLD in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. StockNews.com lowered IAMGOLD from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Cibc World Mkts raised IAMGOLD from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Raymond James raised IAMGOLD from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, National Bank Financial raised shares of IAMGOLD to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $6.90.

IAMGOLD Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of IAG stock opened at $6.29 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.60 billion, a PE ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 1.63. IAMGOLD has a 1 year low of $3.44 and a 1 year high of $6.69. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $5.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5.58. 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 quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The mining company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $469.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $498.68 million. IAMGOLD had a net margin of 50.19% and a return on equity of 10.64%. Research analysts predict that IAMGOLD will post 0.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IAMGOLD

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in IAG. Tobam bought a new position in IAMGOLD during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position 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 buying an additional 5,511 shares during the period. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of IAMGOLD during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of IAMGOLD in the fourth quarter worth approximately $68,000. Finally, Choreo LLC bought a new stake in shares of IAMGOLD during the 4th quarter worth approximately $88,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.08% of the company’s stock.

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.