Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Freedom Capital

Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC) (TSE:K) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also commented on KGC. Zacks Research lowered shares of Kinross Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce set a $54.00 price objective on shares of Kinross Gold in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Kinross Gold from $32.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Kinross Gold from a “buy (a+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, ATB Cormark Capital Markets upgraded shares of Kinross Gold from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.81.

Kinross Gold Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KGC opened at $28.55 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.84, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.53. Kinross Gold has a 1-year low of $13.66 and a 1-year high of $39.11. The stock has a market cap of $34.05 billion, a PE ratio of 12.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.73.

Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC) (TSE:K) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The mining company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.03. Kinross Gold had a return on equity of 32.47% and a net margin of 35.99%.The business had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.38 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.30 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 60.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Kinross Gold will post 2.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kinross Gold Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a $0.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Kinross Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.78%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kinross Gold

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of KGC. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Kinross Gold by 35.1% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 70,370 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $887,000 after purchasing an additional 18,287 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Kinross Gold during the 1st quarter worth approximately $158,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kinross Gold during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $167,000. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in shares of Kinross Gold by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 16,153 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 1,328 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AXA S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Kinross Gold during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,483,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.69% of the company’s stock.

Kinross Gold Company Profile

Kinross Gold Corporation (NYSE: KGC) is a Toronto-based precious metals mining company primarily focused on the exploration, development and production of gold, with silver recovered as a by-product at some operations. The company’s activities span the full mining lifecycle, including discovery and resource delineation, mine construction and operation, ore processing, and eventual site reclamation and closure. Kinross sells refined gold produced at its processing facilities and manages associated logistics and processing arrangements to deliver metal to market.

Kinross operates a portfolio of producing mines and development projects across multiple regions, with a significant presence in the Americas and West Africa.