Kinross Gold Co. (NYSE:KGC) Short Interest Up 8.2% in January

Kinross Gold Co. (NYSE:KGC - Get Free Report) TSE: K was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 11,510,000 shares, an increase of 8.2% from the January 15th total of 10,640,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 18,940,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.6 days. Currently, 0.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kinross Gold

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Kinross Gold by 62.2% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 116,323,261 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $1,078,330,000 after buying an additional 44,610,091 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Kinross Gold by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 47,365,206 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $439,881,000 after buying an additional 763,248 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kinross Gold by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 32,862,230 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $304,633,000 after buying an additional 3,224,455 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Kinross Gold during the 4th quarter valued at about $280,697,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Kinross Gold by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 14,665,537 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $136,028,000 after buying an additional 1,398,225 shares in the last quarter. 63.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kinross Gold Price Performance

Shares of KGC traded down $0.58 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $10.97. 24,635,362 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,657,713. The stock has a market cap of $13.48 billion, a PE ratio of 14.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $10.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.90. Kinross Gold has a 12 month low of $4.75 and a 12 month high of $12.28.

Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC - Get Free Report) TSE: K last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The mining company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23 by ($0.03). Kinross Gold had a net margin of 18.43% and a return on equity of 12.65%. Equities analysts expect that Kinross Gold will post 0.81 EPS for the current year.

Kinross Gold Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. Kinross Gold's dividend payout ratio is 15.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on KGC. CIBC raised their target price on Kinross Gold from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Kinross Gold from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, November 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kinross Gold has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $11.63.

Kinross Gold Company Profile

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.