Ivanhoe Mines (OTCMKTS:IVPAF) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Shares of Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (OTCMKTS:IVPAF) gapped up prior to trading on Friday. The stock had previously closed at $7.84, but opened at $8.50. Ivanhoe Mines shares last traded at $8.08, with a volume of 17,306 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on IVPAF. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded Ivanhoe Mines from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Ivanhoe Mines in a report on Monday, July 6th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Ivanhoe Mines in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Ivanhoe Mines in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $15.20.

Ivanhoe Mines Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $8.27. The firm has a market cap of $11.58 billion, a PE ratio of 90.20 and a beta of 1.08.

Ivanhoe Mines (OTCMKTS:IVPAF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.06 by ($0.03). Ivanhoe Mines had a net margin of 23.47% and a return on equity of 5.07%. The firm had revenue of $152.61 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $202.11 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. will post 0.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Ivanhoe Mines

Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. is a Canadian mining and mineral exploration company headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. The company focuses on the discovery, development and operation of mineral projects, with an emphasis on copper, zinc, nickel and platinum-group metals.

Its principal asset is the Kamoa-Kakula Copper Complex in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, one of the company’s flagship copper development and production projects. Ivanhoe Mines also operates the Kipushi zinc-copper-germanium-lead mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and is developing the Platreef project in South Africa, which is expected to produce nickel, copper, platinum, palladium, rhodium and gold.

Ivanhoe Mines was founded in 1993 by mining entrepreneur Robert Friedland and has built a portfolio concentrated in Southern and Central Africa.