IAMGOLD (NYSE:IAG) Shares Up 3.6% – Time to Buy?

Shares of IAMGOLD Co. (NYSE:IAG) (TSE:IMG) shot up 3.6% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $6.25 and last traded at $6.26. 3,623,433 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 9,540,566 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.04.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

IAMGOLD Trading Up 2.2 %

The stock has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a PE ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 1.63. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $5.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.56. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $469.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $498.68 million. Equities analysts expect that IAMGOLD Co. will post 0.67 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of IAMGOLD

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of IAG. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. grew its holdings in IAMGOLD by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 31,233,874 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $161,167,000 after acquiring an additional 216,751 shares in the last quarter. RCF Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of IAMGOLD during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $128,174,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in IAMGOLD by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,232,871 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $109,741,000 after buying an additional 321,458 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in IAMGOLD by 88.4% during 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. raised 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 worth $52,499,000 after buying an additional 2,092,803 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.