Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC) Reaches New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Kinross Gold Corporation (NYSE:KGC) (TSE:K)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after Wall Street Zen upgraded the stock from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating. The company traded as high as $25.78 and last traded at $25.42, with a volume of 1906002 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $25.03.

A number of other research firms have also commented on KGC. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of Kinross Gold in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Kinross Gold from $20.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Kinross Gold to a “hold” rating and set a $15.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 30th. National Bankshares restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Kinross Gold in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Kinross Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Kinross Gold presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $21.07.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kinross Gold

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kinross Gold by 95.7% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 6,949,976 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $87,639,000 after buying an additional 3,398,687 shares during the last quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. raised its stake in shares of Kinross Gold by 21.9% during the first quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 322,862 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $4,076,000 after buying an additional 57,966 shares during the last quarter. Sprott Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kinross Gold by 1.7% during the first quarter. Sprott Inc. now owns 2,932,567 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $36,976,000 after buying an additional 48,905 shares during the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP raised its stake in shares of Kinross Gold by 365.8% during the first quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 6,876,921 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $86,718,000 after buying an additional 5,400,447 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kinross Gold by 264.7% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 155,422 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $1,960,000 after buying an additional 112,800 shares during the last quarter. 63.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kinross Gold Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.84 and a quick ratio of 1.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $21.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.89.

Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC) (TSE:K) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The mining company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. Kinross Gold had a net margin of 25.18% and a return on equity of 20.04%. Kinross Gold’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.14 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Kinross Gold Corporation will post 0.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kinross Gold Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st were paid a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 21st. Kinross Gold’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.68%.

About Kinross Gold

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.