Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Takes Position in Centerra Gold Inc. (NYSE:CGAU)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Centerra Gold Inc. (NYSE:CGAU) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 45,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $258,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CGAU. Versor Investments LP boosted its holdings in Centerra Gold by 40.9% in the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 146,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,053,000 after purchasing an additional 42,600 shares during the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Centerra Gold in the third quarter valued at $412,000. PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd. boosted its holdings in Centerra Gold by 59.6% in the third quarter. PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 434,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,120,000 after purchasing an additional 162,382 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Centerra Gold by 36.5% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 4,390,005 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,514,000 after purchasing an additional 1,175,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in Centerra Gold by 59.0% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,869,035 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,690,000 after purchasing an additional 1,435,794 shares during the last quarter. 55.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CGAU shares. Cormark downgraded shares of Centerra Gold from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Desjardins downgraded shares of Centerra Gold from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Centerra Gold from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.00.

Centerra Gold Stock Up 2.8 %

CGAU opened at $5.66 on Wednesday. Centerra Gold Inc. has a twelve month low of $5.46 and a twelve month high of $7.82. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $6.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $6.41. The company has a market cap of $1.19 billion, a PE ratio of 15.71 and a beta of 0.92.

Centerra Gold (NYSE:CGAU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.03). Centerra Gold had a return on equity of 8.83% and a net margin of 6.62%. The company had revenue of $302.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $316.92 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Centerra Gold Inc. will post 0.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Centerra Gold Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.95%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This is a boost from Centerra Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. Centerra Gold’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.78%.

About Centerra Gold

Centerra Gold Inc, a gold mining company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and operation of gold and copper properties in North America, Turkey, and internationally. The company explores for gold, copper, and molybdenum deposits. Its flagship projects are the 100% owned Mount Milligan gold-copper mine located in British Columbia, Canada; and the Öksüt gold mine located in Turkey.