Van ECK Associates Corp Decreases Holdings in Centerra Gold Inc. (NYSE:CGAU)

Van ECK Associates Corp decreased its holdings in Centerra Gold Inc. (NYSE:CGAU - Free Report) by 0.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,366,067 shares of the company's stock after selling 173,273 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 8.58% of Centerra Gold worth $136,761,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its stake in Centerra Gold by 12.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 14,384 shares of the company's stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 1,573 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in shares of Centerra Gold by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 48,101 shares of the company's stock valued at $325,000 after acquiring an additional 1,895 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of Centerra Gold by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 178,489 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,199,000 after acquiring an additional 2,120 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Centerra Gold by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 587,062 shares of the company's stock worth $3,947,000 after acquiring an additional 4,356 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC acquired a new stake in Centerra Gold during the 3rd quarter worth about $57,000. 55.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CGAU. Cibc World Mkts cut Centerra Gold from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. CIBC reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $13.00 price target (up from $11.00) on shares of Centerra Gold in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Desjardins upgraded shares of Centerra Gold to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Centerra Gold presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $11.00.

Centerra Gold Stock Down 7.9 %

Shares of CGAU traded down $0.56 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $6.52. The company had a trading volume of 1,642,666 shares, compared to its average volume of 745,516. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $7.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $6.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.58 and a beta of 0.98. Centerra Gold Inc. has a 52-week low of $4.47 and a 52-week high of $7.82.

Centerra Gold (NYSE:CGAU - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $282.31 million during the quarter. Centerra Gold had a net margin of 8.31% and a return on equity of 10.39%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.20) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Centerra Gold Inc. will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Centerra Gold Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be paid a $0.052 dividend. This represents a $0.21 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. This is a positive change from Centerra Gold's previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. Centerra Gold's payout ratio is currently 41.67%.

About Centerra Gold

Centerra Gold Inc, a gold mining company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and operation of gold and copper properties in North America, Turkey, and internationally. The company explores for gold, copper, and molybdenum deposits. Its flagship projects are the 100% owned Mount Milligan gold-copper mine located in British Columbia, Canada; and the Öksüt gold mine located in Turkey.