iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF (NYSEARCA:IYM) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF (NYSEARCA:IYM) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totaling 74,757 shares, a growth of 162.5% from the September 30th total of 28,483 shares. Currently, 1.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 251,545 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.3 days.

iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSEARCA IYM traded down $2.36 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $179.52. 149,789 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 215,748. iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF has a 1 year low of $139.08 and a 1 year high of $197.36. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $184.90 and a 200 day moving average of $181.38. The stock has a market cap of $1.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.43 and a beta of 0.98.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF by 64.2% in the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 767,520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $135,022,000 after purchasing an additional 300,080 shares in the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd bought a new position in iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF in the third quarter valued at approximately $109,763,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF by 176.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 374,722 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,921,000 after buying an additional 239,188 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its position in shares of iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF by 191.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 74,110 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,037,000 after purchasing an additional 48,710 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF by 324.4% during the 2nd quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 61,497 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,041,000 after acquiring an additional 47,006 shares during the last quarter.

About iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF

The iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF (IYM) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in materials equity. The fund tracks a broad, market-cap-weighted index of US basic materials companies that includes raw materials such as metals, chemicals and forestry products. IYM was launched on Jun 12, 2000 and is managed by BlackRock.