Sibanye Gold (NYSE:SBSW) Trading Up 7.4% – Time to Buy?

Shares of Sibanye Gold Limited (NYSE:SBSW) rose 7.4% on Friday . The company traded as high as $17.14 and last traded at $17.2120. Approximately 1,400,296 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 8,437,856 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.03.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on SBSW shares. Zacks Research raised Sibanye Gold from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 1st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Sibanye Gold from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Sibanye Gold from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 22nd. HSBC raised Sibanye Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.80 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Sibanye Gold in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.03.

Sibanye Gold Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 2.89. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $15.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $12.12.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sibanye Gold

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. First Trust Advisors LP bought a new stake in Sibanye Gold during the 4th quarter valued at about $230,000. Hatch Cove Capital LLC purchased a new position in Sibanye Gold in the 4th quarter worth approximately $15,326,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Sibanye Gold by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 141,048 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,010,000 after acquiring an additional 6,596 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Sibanye Gold in the 4th quarter worth $164,000. Finally, Goehring & Rozencwajg Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sibanye Gold by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Goehring & Rozencwajg Associates LLC now owns 3,539,680 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,440,000 after purchasing an additional 179,650 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 34.93% of the company’s stock.

About Sibanye Gold

Sibanye Gold (NYSE:SBSW) is a precious metals mining company headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa. The company’s core operations focus on the extraction, processing and exploration of gold. Through its South African gold mining operations, Sibanye Gold produces doré bars, gold in concentrate and carbon-in-leach product, leveraging both underground and surface mining techniques. The company also generates by-products such as uranium, copper and nickel, reflecting its commitment to maximizing resource recovery.

In addition to its South African footprint, Sibanye Gold has expanded into the platinum‐group metals (PGM) sector through its acquisition of Stillwater Mining Company in 2017.