Centerra Gold Inc. (NYSE:CGAU) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Centerra Gold Inc. (NYSE:CGAU) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eight analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $16.6667.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Centerra Gold in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Centerra Gold from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Centerra Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Centerra Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th.

Institutional Trading of Centerra Gold

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. increased its stake in shares of Centerra Gold by 21.8% in the fourth quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 14,158,116 shares of the company’s stock worth $203,452,000 after buying an additional 2,535,492 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Centerra Gold by 57.2% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 13,344,727 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,739,000 after purchasing an additional 4,853,494 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Centerra Gold by 0.5% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,314,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $147,899,000 after purchasing an additional 39,315 shares during the last quarter. Waratah Capital Advisors Ltd. increased its stake in Centerra Gold by 4.1% during the third quarter. Waratah Capital Advisors Ltd. now owns 6,954,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,621,000 after purchasing an additional 275,510 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Centerra Gold by 15.3% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,536,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,929,000 after purchasing an additional 866,977 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.40% of the company’s stock.

Centerra Gold Price Performance

Centerra Gold stock opened at $15.50 on Thursday. Centerra Gold has a 1 year low of $6.71 and a 1 year high of $21.17. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $17.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.21. The company has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.00, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 2.41.

Centerra Gold (NYSE:CGAU) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $484.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $373.47 million. Centerra Gold had a net margin of 40.32% and a return on equity of 14.90%. Sell-side analysts predict that Centerra Gold will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Centerra Gold Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st were paid a $0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 21st. Centerra Gold’s payout ratio is 6.77%.

About Centerra Gold

Centerra Gold Inc is a gold mining company incorporated in Canada and headquartered in Toronto. The company specializes in the exploration, development and operation of precious metals properties, with a focus on gold production. Centerra’s portfolio includes the Mount Milligan mine in British Columbia, Canada, and the Otjikoto mine in Namibia. Both operations produce gold and copper concentrates and employ modern mining methods and processing facilities to optimize recovery rates and minimize environmental impact.

In addition to its producing assets, Centerra is advancing the development of its Greenstone Gold Project in Ontario, Canada, which, upon completion, is expected to become one of Canada’s largest gold mines.