Short Interest in Kinross Gold Co. (NYSE:KGC) Rises By 7.1%

Kinross Gold Co. (NYSE:KGC) (TSE:K) saw a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,980,000 shares, an increase of 7.1% from the December 15th total of 7,450,000 shares. Approximately 0.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 16,430,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.5 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kinross Gold

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KGC. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Kinross Gold by 246.3% during the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,227 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 5,140 shares in the last quarter. Corundum Trust Company INC purchased a new position in shares of Kinross Gold in the third quarter valued at approximately $94,000. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kinross Gold in the third quarter valued at approximately $94,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Kinross Gold during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $95,000. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new stake in Kinross Gold during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $99,000. 63.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kinross Gold Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of KGC stock traded up $0.08 during trading on Monday, hitting $10.31. 21,213,434 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,752,992. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.21. Kinross Gold has a 52-week low of $4.75 and a 52-week high of $10.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $9.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.50.

Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC) (TSE:K) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The mining company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.32 billion. Kinross Gold had a return on equity of 11.49% and a net margin of 15.23%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 29.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.12 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Kinross Gold will post 0.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kinross Gold Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 28th were given a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 27th. Kinross Gold’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on KGC. StockNews.com raised Kinross Gold from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 9th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Kinross Gold from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $11.13.

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.