Centerra Gold (NYSE:CGAU) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Centerra Gold Inc. (NYSE:CGAU) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $24.52 and last traded at $23.3340, with a volume of 3737 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $23.44.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Centerra Gold in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Centerra Gold from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Centerra Gold in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Centerra Gold from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $17.50.

Centerra Gold Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $4.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $18.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Centerra Gold (NYSE:CGAU) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.01. Centerra Gold had a return on equity of 15.35% and a net margin of 36.92%.The firm had revenue of $442.71 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $394.27 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Centerra Gold Inc. will post 1.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Centerra Gold Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. Centerra Gold’s payout ratio is currently 6.39%.

Institutional Trading of Centerra Gold

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Centerra Gold in the 2nd quarter worth $245,004,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Centerra Gold by 57.2% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 13,344,727 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,739,000 after buying an additional 4,853,494 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd acquired a new position in Centerra Gold during the fourth quarter worth about $35,991,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Centerra Gold during the second quarter worth about $37,142,000. Finally, Heartland Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Centerra Gold in the second quarter worth about $34,082,000. 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.