Gold Fields Limited (NYSE:GFI) Receives Average Recommendation of “Reduce” from Analysts

Shares of Gold Fields Limited (NYSE:GFI) have received a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the six brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $13.67.

GFI has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Gold Fields from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Gold Fields from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Gold Fields from $15.50 to $15.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Gold Fields from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $14.00 to $12.00 in a report on Friday, February 2nd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gold Fields

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. U S Global Investors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Gold Fields by 3.8% during the third quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 357,209 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,879,000 after buying an additional 12,923 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Gold Fields by 7.6% in the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 11,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $127,000 after buying an additional 821 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in Gold Fields by 8.9% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 771,197 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,375,000 after purchasing an additional 63,191 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Gold Fields by 2.7% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 92,309 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,002,000 after purchasing an additional 2,459 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Gold Fields by 0.9% during the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 5,015,942 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,921,000 after purchasing an additional 43,666 shares during the last quarter. 26.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gold Fields Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE GFI opened at $16.89 on Wednesday. Gold Fields has a fifty-two week low of $10.31 and a fifty-two week high of $18.97. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.25.

Gold Fields (NYSE:GFI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.10. On average, equities research analysts predict that Gold Fields will post 1.53 EPS for the current year.

Gold Fields Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.1717 per share. This is a positive change from Gold Fields’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.17. This represents a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th.

About Gold Fields

Gold Fields Limited operates as a gold producer with reserves and resources in Chile, South Africa, Ghana, Canada, Australia, and Peru. It also explores for copper and silver deposits. The company was founded in 1887 and is based in Sandton, South Africa.