Royal Bank of Canada Grows Stake in Centerra Gold Inc. $CGAU

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Centerra Gold Inc. to approximately $55.15 million, representing a 9.2% boost with a total of 8,684,513 shares after acquiring an additional 734,104 shares in the first quarter.
• Centerra Gold recently reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, surpassing the consensus estimate of $0.17, but revenue was below forecast at $288.30 million.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.07 per share, which corresponds to an annualized dividend yield of 3.4%, with a dividend payout ratio of 60.61%.

Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of Centerra Gold Inc. (NYSE:CGAU - Free Report) by 9.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,684,513 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 734,104 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned about 4.14% of Centerra Gold worth $55,146,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Centerra Gold by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,310,457 shares of the company's stock worth $52,722,000 after acquiring an additional 55,839 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Centerra Gold by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,618,654 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,958,000 after purchasing an additional 326,794 shares during the period. Pale Fire Capital SE lifted its holdings in Centerra Gold by 52.6% during the 1st quarter. Pale Fire Capital SE now owns 3,467,298 shares of the company's stock worth $22,017,000 after purchasing an additional 1,194,500 shares in the last quarter. Man Group plc boosted its stake in Centerra Gold by 43.2% in the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 3,038,739 shares of the company's stock worth $17,283,000 after purchasing an additional 916,255 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Centerra Gold during the 1st quarter valued at about $14,634,000. 55.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Centerra Gold Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of CGAU traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $8.96. The company had a trading volume of 1,735,213 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,588,965. Centerra Gold Inc. has a 52-week low of $5.41 and a 52-week high of $9.01. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $7.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $6.92. The firm has a market cap of $1.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.82.

Centerra Gold (NYSE:CGAU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.08. Centerra Gold had a return on equity of 9.12% and a net margin of 6.21%.The business had revenue of $288.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $319.42 million. On average, research analysts expect that Centerra Gold Inc. will post 0.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Centerra Gold Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st were paid a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 21st. Centerra Gold's dividend payout ratio is 60.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Centerra Gold from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. CIBC reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Centerra Gold in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered shares of Centerra Gold from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $13.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Wednesday. National Bankshares reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Centerra Gold in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts upgraded Centerra Gold from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $13.33.

Centerra Gold Profile

Centerra Gold Inc, a gold mining company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and operation of gold and copper properties in North America, Turkey, and internationally. The company explores for gold, copper, and molybdenum deposits. Its flagship projects are the 100% owned Mount Milligan gold-copper mine located in British Columbia, Canada; and the Öksüt gold mine located in Turkey.