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

Kinross Gold Co. (NYSE:KGC) (TSE:K) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 14,125 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 101% compared to the average volume of 7,035 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Kinross Gold from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. National Bank Financial reiterated an “outperform overweight” rating on shares of Kinross Gold in a research note on Monday, April 8th. CIBC increased their target price on shares of Kinross Gold from $7.00 to $8.15 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. TheStreet cut shares of Kinross Gold from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Kinross Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $6.44.

Institutional Trading of Kinross Gold

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Primoris Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kinross Gold during the first quarter valued at about $164,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Kinross Gold in the 1st quarter valued at $1,095,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kinross Gold by 616.7% in the first quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 25,800 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $158,000 after purchasing an additional 22,200 shares during the last quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Kinross Gold by 25.0% in the 1st quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. now owns 127,500 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $782,000 after buying an additional 25,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pullen Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kinross Gold during the 1st quarter worth $1,149,000. 63.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kinross Gold Trading Up 5.3 %

NYSE:KGC traded up $0.36 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $7.13. The company had a trading volume of 13,180,226 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,508,833. Kinross Gold has a fifty-two week low of $4.32 and a fifty-two week high of $7.20. The business’s fifty day moving average is $6.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 2.63. The firm has a market cap of $8.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.14.

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

Kinross Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. Kinross Gold’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.29%.

About Kinross Gold

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.