Centerra Gold (NYSE:CGAU) Cut to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of Centerra Gold (NYSE:CGAU) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

CGAU has been the topic of a number of other reports. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Centerra Gold in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Centerra Gold from $13.50 to $19.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Wall Street Zen cut Centerra Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Centerra Gold from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Centerra Gold in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.00.

Centerra Gold Trading Down 4.0%

CGAU opened at $16.27 on Tuesday. Centerra Gold has a twelve month low of $5.41 and a twelve month high of $21.17. The company has a fifty day moving average of $18.27 and a 200-day moving average of $14.40. The stock has a market cap of $3.25 billion, a PE ratio of 5.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Centerra Gold (NYSE:CGAU) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.07. Centerra Gold had a net margin of 42.18% and a return on equity of 12.42%. The business had revenue of $401.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $355.39 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Centerra Gold will post 0.59 EPS for the current year.

Centerra Gold Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 12th were issued a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 12th. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Centerra Gold’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.39%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centerra Gold

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Centerra Gold during the 1st quarter valued at $192,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Centerra Gold during the first quarter worth about $97,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Centerra Gold by 57.2% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 13,344,727 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,739,000 after acquiring an additional 4,853,494 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in Centerra Gold in the 1st quarter valued at about $218,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Centerra Gold by 20.3% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 767,536 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,534,000 after purchasing an additional 129,737 shares during the last quarter. 55.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Centerra Gold Company Profile

Centerra Gold Inc is a gold mining company incorporated in Canada and headquartered in Toronto. The company specializes in the exploration, development and operation of precious metals properties, with a focus on gold production. Centerra’s portfolio includes the Mount Milligan mine in British Columbia, Canada, and the Otjikoto mine in Namibia. Both operations produce gold and copper concentrates and employ modern mining methods and processing facilities to optimize recovery rates and minimize environmental impact.

In addition to its producing assets, Centerra is advancing the development of its Greenstone Gold Project in Ontario, Canada, which, upon completion, is expected to become one of Canada’s largest gold mines.