Royal Bank of Canada Sells 240,679 Shares of Centerra Gold Inc. $CGAU

Royal Bank of Canada reduced its position in shares of Centerra Gold Inc. (NYSE:CGAU) by 22.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 822,541 shares of the company’s stock after selling 240,679 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.41% of Centerra Gold worth $14,633,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. increased its holdings in Centerra Gold by 21.8% during the 4th quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 14,158,116 shares of the company’s stock valued at $203,452,000 after purchasing an additional 2,535,492 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 worth $84,739,000 after buying an additional 4,853,494 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Centerra Gold by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,314,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $147,899,000 after buying an additional 39,315 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 866,977 shares during the period. Finally, Man Group plc increased its stake in shares of Centerra Gold by 9.7% during the second 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 period. 55.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Centerra Gold Price Performance

CGAU opened at $21.25 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market cap of $4.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.80. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.63. Centerra Gold Inc. has a 12-month low of $6.71 and a 12-month high of $21.48.

Centerra Gold (NYSE:CGAU) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $442.71 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $394.27 million. Centerra Gold had a net margin of 36.92% and a return on equity of 15.35%. Research analysts predict that Centerra Gold Inc. will post 1.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Centerra Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be issued a $0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. Centerra Gold’s dividend payout ratio is 6.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on CGAU. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Centerra Gold in a research note on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Centerra Gold from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Centerra Gold from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Centerra Gold in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.50.

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.