Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Strong-Buy Rating

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC) from a "buy" to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report issued on Saturday.
• Kinross beat quarterly expectations with EPS of $0.67 vs. $0.55 expected and revenue of $2.01 billion (up 42.9% year‑over‑year), reporting a 33.9% net margin and 28.22% return on equity.
• Analysts have an average rating of "Moderate Buy" with a consensus target of $39.56 (RBC recently upgraded to "outperform" with a $45 target), while the stock opened at $30.56 and was reported down about 6%.

Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC - Get Free Report) TSE: K was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce set a $54.00 price objective on shares of Kinross Gold in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of Kinross Gold from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $36.00 to $45.00 in a report on Thursday. UBS Group set a $43.00 target price on Kinross Gold in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Zacks Research lowered Kinross Gold from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (a)" rating on shares of Kinross Gold in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $39.56.

Kinross Gold Stock Down 6.0%

Shares of KGC opened at $30.56 on Friday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $33.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.16. Kinross Gold has a 12-month low of $11.12 and a 12-month high of $39.11. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market cap of $36.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.73.

Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC - Get Free Report) TSE: K last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The mining company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.12. Kinross Gold had a net margin of 33.90% and a return on equity of 28.22%. The company had revenue of $2.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.20 earnings per share. Kinross Gold's revenue was up 42.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Kinross Gold will post 0.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kinross Gold

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KGC. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Kinross Gold by 35.1% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 70,370 shares of the mining company's stock worth $887,000 after acquiring an additional 18,287 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new position in Kinross Gold in the first quarter valued at $158,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Kinross Gold during the 2nd quarter worth $167,000. Prospera Financial Services Inc grew its stake in Kinross Gold by 28.3% during the 2nd quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 17,718 shares of the mining company's stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 3,906 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new stake in Kinross Gold during the 2nd quarter worth about $399,000. 63.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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