Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Acquires 26,500 Shares of Kinross Gold Co. (NYSE:KGC)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its stake in shares of Kinross Gold Co. (NYSE:KGC) (TSE:K) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 481,690 shares of the mining company’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,500 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Kinross Gold were worth $4,472,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in Kinross Gold by 44.1% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 57,727 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $540,000 after acquiring an additional 17,677 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kinross Gold during the third quarter valued at approximately $94,000. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Kinross Gold by 56.4% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 100,181 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $938,000 after buying an additional 36,132 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans purchased a new position in shares of Kinross Gold in the third quarter worth $5,781,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in Kinross Gold by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,717,118 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $34,878,000 after buying an additional 29,400 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.69% of the company’s stock.

Kinross Gold Price Performance

KGC stock opened at $12.21 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Kinross Gold Co. has a 1 year low of $5.44 and a 1 year high of $12.34. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $11.14 and a 200 day moving average of $10.21. The company has a market cap of $15.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.85, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.29.

Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC) (TSE:K) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The mining company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.03). Kinross Gold had a return on equity of 12.65% and a net margin of 18.43%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Kinross Gold Co. will post 0.81 EPS for the current year.

Kinross Gold Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. Kinross Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on KGC shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Kinross Gold from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. CIBC upped their price target on Kinross Gold from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Kinross Gold has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $11.63.

Kinross Gold 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.