53,533 Shares in Centerra Gold Inc. $CGAU Acquired by Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in shares of Centerra Gold Inc. (NYSE:CGAU) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 53,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $952,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. lifted 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. boosted its holdings in shares of Centerra Gold by 57.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 13,344,727 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,739,000 after buying an additional 4,853,494 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in Centerra Gold by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,314,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $147,899,000 after buying an additional 39,315 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Centerra Gold by 15.3% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,536,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,929,000 after buying an additional 866,977 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Man Group plc grew its stake in Centerra Gold by 9.7% in the 2nd quarter. Man Group plc now owns 3,649,899 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,241,000 after buying an additional 323,860 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.40% of the company’s stock.

Centerra Gold Price Performance

NYSE:CGAU opened at $17.18 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 2.42 and a quick ratio of 1.60. Centerra Gold Inc. has a one year low of $6.71 and a one year high of $21.17. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $16.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.52. The stock has a market cap of $3.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.49, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.81.

Centerra Gold (NYSE:CGAU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.01. Centerra Gold had a net margin of 36.92% and a return on equity of 15.35%. The company had revenue of $442.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $394.27 million. Analysts anticipate that Centerra Gold Inc. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Centerra Gold Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be paid a $0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. Centerra Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CGAU has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Centerra Gold from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Centerra Gold in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen lowered Centerra Gold from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 25th. Finally, Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Centerra Gold in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Centerra Gold currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.50.

Centerra Gold 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.