iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF (NYSEARCA:IYM) Shares Shorted: Short Interest Down 65.7% in September

iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF (NYSEARCA:IYM) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totaling 28,483 shares, a decrease of 65.7% from the September 15th total of 82,938 shares. Approximately 0.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 185,498 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.2 days.

iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF Price Performance

Shares of NYSEARCA:IYM traded up $0.33 on Monday, reaching $182.11. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 48,450 shares, compared to its average volume of 220,107. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $186.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $182.95. iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF has a 52-week low of $139.08 and a 52-week high of $197.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.43 and a beta of 0.98.

Institutional Trading of iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF by 64.2% during the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 767,520 shares of the company’s stock worth $135,022,000 after acquiring an additional 300,080 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF by 176.5% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 374,722 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,921,000 after purchasing an additional 239,188 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF in the first quarter valued at approximately $10,112,000. WealthCare Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF in the first quarter valued at approximately $8,780,000. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in shares of iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF by 191.8% during the first 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 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.