Short Interest in iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF (NYSEARCA:IYM) Drops By 52.8%

iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF (NYSEARCA:IYM) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totaling 38,539 shares, a drop of 52.8% from the April 30th total of 81,662 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 130,869 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.3 days. Currently, 0.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of IYM. Jane Street Group LLC grew its position in shares of iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF by 266.1% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 5,707 shares of the company’s stock worth $769,000 after buying an additional 4,148 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF during the second quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF by 7.0% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 5,350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $749,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF during the second quarter valued at approximately $44,278,000. Finally, Vivaldi Capital Management LP acquired a new position in iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF during the second quarter valued at approximately $295,000.

iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF Trading Up 1.8%

IYM stock traded up $3.23 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $187.48. 68,422 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 216,058. iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF has a one year low of $135.37 and a one year high of $189.80. The stock has a market cap of $1.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.43 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $180.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $170.77.

iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF Company Profile

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.