First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (OTCMKTS:FQVLF) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (OTCMKTS:FQVLF) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,333,700 shares, a growth of 17.3% from the December 15th total of 6,252,200 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 263,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 27.8 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FQVLF has been the subject of several research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered shares of First Quantum Minerals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays upgraded shares of First Quantum Minerals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, First Quantum Minerals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.00.

First Quantum Minerals Price Performance

Shares of OTCMKTS FQVLF traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $13.16. 180,721 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 175,312. The company has a current ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $13.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.91. The company has a market cap of $10.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.90, a PEG ratio of 29.59 and a beta of 1.50. First Quantum Minerals has a 12-month low of $8.22 and a 12-month high of $15.23.

First Quantum Minerals (OTCMKTS:FQVLF) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The basic materials company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.12. First Quantum Minerals had a negative net margin of 32.41% and a negative return on equity of 2.69%. The company had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that First Quantum Minerals will post -0.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About First Quantum Minerals

First Quantum Minerals Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration, development, and production of mineral properties. It primarily explores for copper, nickel, pyrite, silver, gold, and zinc ores, as well as produces acid. The company has operating mines located in Zambia, Panama, Finland, Turkey, Spain, Australia, and Mauritania, as well as a development project in Zambia.