IMAX Corporation IMAX, which has seen a slew of positive developments lately, received another boost when it was selected for addition to the coveted Russell 3000 Index. The company will be inducted into the index at the conclusion of the annual reconstitution of the Russell indexes on June 26. Russell 3000 measures the performance of the largest 3,000 companies in the U.S. equity market.
This year’s reconstitution of the Russell indexes captures the 4,000 biggest U.S. stocks as of end-May 2015 and ranks them on the basis of total market capitalization. Membership in the Russell 3000 is valid for one year. IMAX will automatically join the Russell 2000 Index, thanks to its membership in the Russell 3000 Index. The Russell 2000 Index measures the performance of the small-cap segment of the U.S. equity market.
Russell indexes, which are part of the global index provider FTSE Russell, find wide application among investment managers and institutional investors for index funds and as benchmarks for active investment strategies. The importance of the indexes can be gauged from the fact that $5.7 trillion in assets are benchmarked to the Russell's U.S. indexes.
The inclusion of IMAX in the highly-valued index is a positive for the company as the membership will give it greater exposure. The news significantly comes at a time when the company is striving hard to expand its operations.
Earlier in the week, IMAX inked a deal with Nigeria’s leading theater chain – Filmhouse Cinemas – in a bid to expand its operations in Africa. Per the agreement, Filmhouse Cinemas will launch IMAX theaters in a new construction site in Lagos.
Furthermore, IMAX is also looking to grow in China where the rapidly growing movie market offers significant commercial potential. To add to the positives, earlier in the month, IMAX theaters witnessed the highest opening weekend box-office collections for Universal Pictures’ recently released flick, Jurassic World. Notably, Universal Pictures is a unit of Comcast Corp. CMCSA.
Zacks Rank
IMAX currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Better-ranked stocks in the same space include AMC Networks Inc. AMCX and Gray Television Inc. GTN. While AMC Networks sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Gray Television carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
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