Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC)

Kinross Gold Corporation (NYSE:KGC) (TSE:K) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors bought 16,451 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 19% compared to the average volume of 13,814 call options.

Kinross Gold Stock Up 7.3%

Shares of KGC traded up $2.46 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $36.12. The stock had a trading volume of 11,871,933 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,453,426. The company has a market cap of $43.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.17, a PEG ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 0.75. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $28.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.59. Kinross Gold has a 1-year low of $10.28 and a 1-year high of $36.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 1.68.

Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC) (TSE:K) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The mining company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. Kinross Gold had a return on equity of 22.25% and a net margin of 27.30%.Kinross Gold’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.24 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Kinross Gold will post 0.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Kinross Gold Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 26th were paid a dividend of $0.035 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 yield of 0.4%. Kinross Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.79%.

Institutional Trading of Kinross Gold

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KGC. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Kinross Gold by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 107,960,623 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $2,682,791,000 after acquiring an additional 7,825,336 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kinross Gold by 3.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 50,738,541 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $1,259,280,000 after purchasing an additional 1,553,594 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Kinross Gold by 1.6% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 45,120,345 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $1,133,463,000 after purchasing an additional 707,498 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Kinross Gold during the second quarter worth $389,025,000. Finally, Man Group plc grew its position in Kinross Gold by 47.8% in the 2nd quarter. Man Group plc now owns 16,739,969 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $261,646,000 after buying an additional 5,411,491 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on Kinross Gold from $33.00 to $37.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Kinross Gold from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on shares of Kinross Gold from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Zacks Research raised shares of Kinross Gold from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Desjardins assumed coverage on shares of Kinross Gold in a research note on Friday, November 28th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $30.56.

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.