Kinross Gold Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:KGC)

Key Points

• Investors bought an unusually large number of call options on Kinross Gold — 16,451 call options, about 19% above the average volume.
• Shares jumped 7.3% to $36.12 on heavy trading (11.87M shares vs. average 8.45M) after the company reported quarterly EPS of $0.44 (beat) and revenue up 25.8% year-over-year.
• Institutional interest is high (about 63.69% owned by funds) after several managers increased positions, and analysts hold a consensus "Buy" rating with an average target of $30.56.

Kinross Gold Corporation (NYSE:KGC - Get Free Report) TSE: K was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors acquired 16,451 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 19% compared to the average volume of 13,814 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kinross Gold

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Kinross Gold by 203.0% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 152,755 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $2,388,000 after acquiring an additional 102,348 shares during the last quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. increased its position in shares of Kinross Gold by 60.5% during the third quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 417,334 shares of the mining company's stock worth $10,371,000 after purchasing an additional 157,334 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One North America Inc. acquired a new position in Kinross Gold in the 3rd quarter valued at $13,438,000. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new position in Kinross Gold in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,253,000. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its holdings in Kinross Gold by 19.6% in the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,525,188 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $39,469,000 after purchasing an additional 413,771 shares in the last quarter. 63.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kinross Gold Stock Up 7.3%

Shares of KGC stock traded up $2.46 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $36.12. 11,871,933 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,453,426. The stock's 50 day moving average is $28.36 and its 200-day moving average is $23.59. The company has a market cap of $43.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Kinross Gold has a fifty-two week low of $10.28 and a fifty-two week high of $36.06.

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

Kinross Gold Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 26th were given a dividend of $0.035 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 26th. This represents a $0.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. This is an increase from Kinross Gold's previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. Kinross Gold's payout ratio is 9.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on KGC. TD Securities upped their price objective on shares of Kinross Gold from $22.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Cormark cut shares of Kinross Gold from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. CIBC increased their price objective on shares of Kinross Gold from $37.00 to $38.50 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Desjardins assumed coverage on shares of Kinross Gold in a research note on Friday, November 28th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Finally, Raymond James Financial increased their target price on Kinross Gold from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Kinross Gold has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $30.56.

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.

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