Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Decreases Position in Centerra Gold Inc. (NYSE:CGAU)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lessened its stake in Centerra Gold Inc. (NYSE:CGAU) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 985,313 shares of the company’s stock after selling 54,211 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.47% of Centerra Gold worth $5,604,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CGAU. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Centerra Gold during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Centerra Gold in the fourth quarter worth $80,000. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Centerra Gold in the third quarter valued at $89,000. HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Centerra Gold during the 3rd quarter valued at $127,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in Centerra Gold in the 4th quarter worth $177,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CGAU has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Desjardins cut shares of Centerra Gold from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. National Bank Financial raised Centerra Gold to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Centerra Gold from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Cormark cut Centerra Gold from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $11.00.

Centerra Gold Stock Performance

CGAU stock opened at $6.32 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.56 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $6.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $6.34. Centerra Gold Inc. has a 52-week low of $5.46 and a 52-week high of $7.82.

Centerra Gold (NYSE:CGAU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $316.92 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Centerra Gold Inc. will post 0.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Centerra Gold Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.07 per share. This is a boost from Centerra Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.43%. Centerra Gold’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.78%.

Centerra Gold Profile

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.