Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC) Hits New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Kinross Gold Corporation (NYSE:KGC) (TSE:K) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $29.80 and last traded at $29.5760, with a volume of 1019296 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.59.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KGC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Desjardins initiated coverage on Kinross Gold in a report on Friday, November 28th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. CIBC upped their price target on Kinross Gold from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (a)” rating on shares of Kinross Gold in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Cormark downgraded shares of Kinross Gold from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, TD Securities upped their target price on shares of Kinross Gold from $22.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $29.81.

Kinross Gold Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $25.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.56.

Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC) (TSE:K) last released its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. Kinross Gold had a net margin of 27.30% and a return on equity of 22.25%. Kinross Gold’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.24 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Kinross Gold Corporation will post 0.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kinross Gold Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 26th were issued a $0.035 dividend. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Kinross Gold’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.79%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kinross Gold

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in 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 valued at $87,639,000 after buying an additional 3,398,687 shares during the last quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Kinross Gold by 21.9% in the 1st quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 322,862 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $4,076,000 after acquiring an additional 57,966 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its holdings in shares of Kinross Gold by 19.6% in the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,525,188 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $39,469,000 after acquiring an additional 413,771 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Kinross Gold by 6.9% in the second quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,739,218 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $58,208,000 after acquiring an additional 241,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd increased its stake in shares of Kinross Gold by 30.2% during the second quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 55,218 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $863,000 after acquiring an additional 12,821 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.69% of the company’s stock.

Kinross Gold Company Profile

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.