Short Interest in Kinross Gold Co. (NYSE:KGC) Rises By 10.7%

Kinross Gold Co. (NYSE:KGC - Get Free Report) TSE: K saw a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 11,900,000 shares, an increase of 10.7% from the February 29th total of 10,750,000 shares. Currently, 1.0% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 12,880,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.9 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kinross Gold from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Kinross Gold in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. They set a "hold" rating and a $5.00 target price on the stock. National Bank Financial restated an "outperform overweight" rating on shares of Kinross Gold in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. TheStreet lowered shares of Kinross Gold from a "b" rating to a "c+" rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, CIBC boosted their price target on shares of Kinross Gold from $7.00 to $8.15 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Kinross Gold has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $6.05.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kinross Gold

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Kinross Gold by 1.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,404,283 shares of the mining company's stock worth $202,484,000 after acquiring an additional 463,035 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Kinross Gold by 975.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 555,458 shares of the mining company's stock worth $2,543,000 after acquiring an additional 503,799 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Kinross Gold by 24.9% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 8,046,094 shares of the mining company's stock worth $36,680,000 after acquiring an additional 1,603,951 shares in the last quarter. Sprott Inc. boosted its holdings in Kinross Gold by 56.9% during the third quarter. Sprott Inc. now owns 1,866,520 shares of the mining company's stock worth $8,511,000 after purchasing an additional 676,798 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Power Corp of Canada acquired a new position in Kinross Gold during the second quarter worth $4,335,000. Institutional investors own 63.69% of the company's stock.

Kinross Gold Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of KGC traded up $0.11 on Tuesday, reaching $6.27. 15,618,310 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,292,480. The company has a current ratio of 2.63, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.15. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $5.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.44. Kinross Gold has a 12 month low of $4.32 and a 12 month high of $6.34.

Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC - Get Free Report) TSE: K last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The mining company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.02. Kinross Gold had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 8.85%. The business had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.09 earnings per share. Kinross Gold's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Kinross Gold will post 0.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Kinross Gold Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were paid a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. Kinross Gold's payout ratio is presently 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.