Kinross Gold Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:KGC)

Kinross Gold Co. (NYSE:KGC) (TSE:K) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 14,125 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 101% compared to the average volume of 7,035 call options.

Kinross Gold Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KGC opened at $7.54 on Friday. Kinross Gold has a 12 month low of $4.32 and a 12 month high of $7.56. The stock has a market cap of $9.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.18, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.14. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $6.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.63 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC) (TSE:K) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The mining company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.04. Kinross Gold had a return on equity of 8.85% and a net margin of 9.82%. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.07 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Kinross Gold will post 0.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kinross Gold Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. Kinross Gold’s payout ratio is 35.29%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kinross Gold

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Kinross Gold in the fourth quarter worth approximately $265,327,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Kinross Gold by 9.5% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 150,960,083 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $925,392,000 after buying an additional 13,099,791 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its position in Kinross Gold by 96.1% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 11,736,328 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $53,518,000 after buying an additional 5,752,397 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Kinross Gold in the first quarter worth approximately $23,907,000. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in Kinross Gold by 183.9% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 4,445,008 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $26,990,000 after buying an additional 2,879,269 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KGC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Kinross Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. TheStreet cut shares of Kinross Gold from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Kinross Gold from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. CIBC lifted their price target on Kinross Gold from $7.00 to $8.15 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on Kinross Gold from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $6.69.

Kinross Gold Company 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.