Shares of diversified miner IGO Ltd (ASX: IGO) have lifted 1.9% in afternoon trade on Wednesday and now fetch $12.05 apiece.
Despite trading down in recent weeks, IGO found buyers at the $10.54 mark and again at $11.16 as sellers were pushed out of the market.
The IGO share price has rallied 14% from 13 May to the time of writing, having whipsawed in 2022, as seen below.
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IGO settles Western Areas transaction
Helping drive equity returns for IGO is confirmation the company's acquisition of Western Areas Ltd (ASX: WSA) is now legally effective.
Following a Supreme Court of Western Australia's orders to approve the scheme yesterday, IGO will now acquire all of the shares in Western Areas through its subsidiary, IGO Nickel Holdings Pty Ltd.
"[W]e are looking forward to welcoming the Western Areas team into the IGO business once the transaction has been completed on 20 June 2022," the company wrote.
CEO Peter Bradford said the acquisition represented "a logical consolidation of key nickel assets in Western Australia".
It enhanced IGO's position "as a leading, independent producer of metals critical for a clean energy future", he added.
We are looking forward to unlocking unique synergies across the combined nickel portfolio comprised of Nova, Forrestania and Cosmos, as well as the immediate commencement of the downstream nickel sulphate feasibility studies – bringing IGO closer to key customers in the clean energy and electric vehicle industries.
The Western Areas acquisition is a key milestone in the company's growth narrative, having stirred controversy on its announcement on questions the company may be overpaying for the asset.
What do the brokers say?
Further clamping returns in recent weeks was a shift in sentiment from Goldman Sachs about the prospects of battery metals and electric vehicles.
Nevertheless, various research notes from other brokers have contrary evidence to Goldman's assessment.
The Macquarie team pushed back on several of the downside risks covered by Goldman and note there were still legs for both sectors to run in the coming years.
Analysts at JP Morgan were also constructive on the sector earlier this year.
Meanwhile, analysts remain bullish on the stock on average, with more than 64% of coverage saying its a buy right now, according to Bloomberg data.
The average price target from this list is $13.20, around 9.5% above the current market price.
In the last 12 months, the IGO share price has gained 61%.
