Brokerages Set Centerra Gold Inc. (NYSE:CGAU) Target Price at $16.67

Shares of Centerra Gold Inc. (NYSE:CGAU) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $16.6667.

CGAU has been the topic of several analyst reports. Zacks Research downgraded Centerra Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Centerra Gold in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Centerra Gold from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Centerra Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th.

Centerra Gold Trading Down 9.6%

Shares of NYSE:CGAU opened at $15.28 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.03 billion, a PE ratio of 4.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.79. Centerra Gold has a 1 year low of $6.71 and a 1 year high of $21.17. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $17.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.84.

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

Centerra Gold Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Centerra Gold

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Centerra Gold in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $192,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in shares of Centerra Gold during the 1st quarter worth approximately $97,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Centerra Gold by 57.2% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 13,344,727 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,739,000 after buying an additional 4,853,494 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in Centerra Gold in the 1st quarter valued at $218,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Centerra Gold by 20.3% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 767,536 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,534,000 after acquiring an additional 129,737 shares during the period. 55.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Centerra Gold Company Profile

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.