Short Interest in Gold Fields Limited (NYSE:GFI) Drops By 45.1%

Gold Fields Limited (NYSE:GFI - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,270,000 shares, a decline of 45.1% from the March 15th total of 9,600,000 shares. Approximately 0.9% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,580,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.5 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Gold Fields from $17.10 to $18.80 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Gold Fields from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday. HSBC restated a "hold" rating and issued a $21.00 target price on shares of Gold Fields in a research note on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Gold Fields from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $18.56.

Gold Fields Stock Performance

NYSE:GFI traded down $0.63 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $24.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,859,660 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,664,572. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.28. Gold Fields has a 1 year low of $12.98 and a 1 year high of $25.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.23, a PEG ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 0.92.

Gold Fields Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.3752 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a yield of 1.6%. This is a positive change from Gold Fields's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.17. Gold Fields's payout ratio is presently 25.96%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gold Fields

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in Gold Fields by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 105,174 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,388,000 after buying an additional 573 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Gold Fields by 21.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,742 shares of the company's stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 649 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Gold Fields by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 17,332 shares of the company's stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 720 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in Gold Fields by 24.1% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 6,695 shares of the company's stock worth $148,000 after acquiring an additional 1,298 shares during the period. Finally, Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. raised its holdings in Gold Fields by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 48,365 shares of the company's stock worth $638,000 after purchasing an additional 1,583 shares during the period. 24.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Gold Fields

Gold Fields Limited operates as a gold producer with reserves and resources in Chile, South Africa, Ghana, Canada, Australia, and Peru. It also explores for copper and silver deposits. The company was founded in 1887 and is based in Sandton, South Africa.