Short Interest in Gold Fields Limited (NYSE:GFI) Increases By 29.3%

Gold Fields Limited (NYSE:GFI) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 15,930,000 shares, an increase of 29.3% from the March 31st total of 12,320,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 4,530,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.5 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its stake in Gold Fields by 7.6% during the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 11,675 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,000 after buying an additional 821 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its position in shares of Gold Fields by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 771,197 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,375,000 after acquiring an additional 63,191 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Gold Fields by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 92,309 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,002,000 after purchasing an additional 2,459 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Gold Fields by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 5,015,942 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,921,000 after purchasing an additional 43,666 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RWC Asset Advisors US LLC grew its stake in Gold Fields by 3.1% during the third quarter. RWC Asset Advisors US LLC now owns 10,740,272 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,639,000 after purchasing an additional 320,066 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 26.02% of the company’s stock.

Gold Fields Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GFI opened at $17.89 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Gold Fields has a 52 week low of $10.31 and a 52 week high of $18.97. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $15.67 and its 200-day moving average is $14.55.

Gold Fields (NYSE:GFI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.10. Research analysts forecast that Gold Fields will post 1.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gold Fields Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.1717 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Gold Fields’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.17. This represents a yield of 2.5%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GFI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group downgraded shares of Gold Fields from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Gold Fields from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $14.00 to $12.00 in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Gold Fields from $15.50 to $15.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Gold Fields from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.67.

About Gold Fields

Gold Fields Limited operates as a gold producer with reserves and resources in Chile, South Africa, Ghana, Canada, Australia, and Peru. It also explores for copper and silver deposits. The company was founded in 1887 and is based in Sandton, South Africa.