Centerra Gold Inc. (NYSE:CGAU) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Centerra Gold Inc. (NYSE:CGAU) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,650,000 shares, a decrease of 26.6% from the February 28th total of 3,610,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 952,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days. Approximately 1.3% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CGAU. Scotiabank cut their price target on Centerra Gold from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Cormark downgraded Centerra Gold from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. National Bank Financial raised Centerra Gold to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Desjardins cut shares of Centerra Gold from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, CIBC reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Centerra Gold in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centerra Gold

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. boosted its holdings in Centerra Gold by 30.1% during the fourth quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 8,723,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,634,000 after buying an additional 2,017,756 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Centerra Gold by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,254,618 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,977,000 after acquiring an additional 76,544 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in shares of Centerra Gold by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,950,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,238,000 after acquiring an additional 530,601 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Centerra Gold by 24.1% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,808,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,028,000 after acquiring an additional 1,126,825 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of Centerra Gold by 59.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,869,035 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,690,000 after acquiring an additional 1,435,794 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.40% of the company’s stock.

Centerra Gold Stock Down 1.4 %

CGAU traded down $0.09 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $6.26. The stock had a trading volume of 666,526 shares, compared to its average volume of 824,004. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $6.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $6.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.39 and a beta of 0.92. Centerra Gold has a 1-year low of $5.46 and a 1-year high of $7.82.

Centerra Gold (NYSE:CGAU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $302.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $316.92 million. Centerra Gold had a net margin of 6.62% and a return on equity of 8.83%. On average, research analysts forecast that Centerra Gold will post 0.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Centerra Gold Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.07 per share. This is a positive change from Centerra Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.47%. Centerra Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.78%.

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.