Kinross Gold Co. (NYSE:KGC) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Kinross Gold Co. (NYSE:KGC) (TSE:K) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 13,690,000 shares, a growth of 15.0% from the March 15th total of 11,900,000 shares. Approximately 1.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 13,700,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.0 days.

Institutional Trading of Kinross Gold

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Kinross Gold by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 38,057 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 2,157 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its position in Kinross Gold by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 130,473 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $790,000 after purchasing an additional 2,204 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its position in Kinross Gold by 19.1% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 14,258 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 2,290 shares during the period. Advisor Partners II LLC increased its position in Kinross Gold by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 76,554 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 2,305 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in Kinross Gold by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 38,262 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $180,000 after purchasing an additional 2,377 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KGC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Kinross Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. National Bank Financial reissued an “outperform overweight” rating on shares of Kinross Gold in a report on Monday, April 8th. TheStreet cut shares of Kinross Gold from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Kinross Gold in a report on Thursday, February 29th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $5.00 target price for the company. Finally, CIBC increased their target price on shares of Kinross Gold from $7.00 to $8.15 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Kinross Gold has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $6.28.

Kinross Gold Trading Down 1.6 %

NYSE KGC traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $6.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 19,345,379 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,111,113. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.55. The stock has a market cap of $7.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.15. Kinross Gold has a 52 week low of $4.32 and a 52 week high of $6.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.63 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC) (TSE:K) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The mining company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. Kinross Gold had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 8.85%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.09 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Kinross Gold will post 0.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kinross Gold Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. Kinross Gold’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.29%.

Kinross Gold Company Profile

Kinross Gold Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of gold properties principally in the United States, Brazil, Chile, Canada, and Mauritania. The company operates the Fort Knox mine and the Manh Choh project in Alaska, as well as the Round Mountain and the Bald Mountain mines in Nevada, the United States; the Paracatu mine in Brazil; the La Coipa and the Lobo-Marte project in Chile; the Tasiast mine in Mauritania; and the Great Bear project in Canada.