Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Kinross Gold Corporation (NYSE:KGC) (TSE:K)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $30.08 and last traded at $29.5820, with a volume of 2574469 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $28.30.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KGC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Kinross Gold from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 20th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Kinross Gold from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (a)” rating on shares of Kinross Gold in a report on Friday, October 31st. TD Securities increased their price target on Kinross Gold from $22.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Kinross Gold in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.81.

Kinross Gold Trading Up 3.3%

The firm has a market cap of $35.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 0.75. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $26.50 and its 200-day moving average is $22.31. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC) (TSE:K) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The mining company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.05. Kinross Gold had a net margin of 27.30% and a return on equity of 22.25%. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.72 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.24 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 25.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kinross Gold Corporation will post 0.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kinross Gold Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 26th were given a dividend of $0.035 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 26th. This is a positive change from Kinross Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. This represents a $0.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Kinross Gold’s payout ratio is presently 9.79%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kinross Gold

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of KGC. Amundi lifted its position in shares of Kinross Gold by 15.7% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 6,703,499 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $85,067,000 after purchasing an additional 909,010 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 buying an additional 18,287 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Kinross Gold by 95.7% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 6,949,976 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $87,639,000 after buying an additional 3,398,687 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new position in shares of Kinross Gold in the first quarter valued at approximately $158,000. Finally, Arete Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kinross Gold during the first quarter valued at approximately $393,000. 63.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Kinross Gold

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.