Kinross Provides Preliminary 2011 Results and 2012 Outlook – (KGC, NE, SU, HL)

Cost overruns and a massive write down have knocked Kinross Gold’s stock so low that some industry insides see it as Canada’s biggest potential takeover play. Interested parties however will face a litany of obstacles in any type of buyout so the Company may continue on. Kinross, the world’s seventh-largest gold miner, owns some huge, largely unexploited assets spread across four continents, making it an appealing target for bigger players who are always on the hunt for deposits to replenish their reserves.

At the BMO Global Metals and Mining Conference in Hollywood, Florida, last month, the future of Kinross was the subject of much speculation, from the meeting rooms to the bars. Kinross Chief Executive Tye Burt got the ball rolling early, saying the company may consider selling its 50 percent stake in the Crixas underground gold mine in Brazil and its 25 percent stake in the Cerro Casale gold-silver-copper project in Chile. “It was insane how many people were talking about a Kinross breakup at that conference,” said one U.S. investment banker focused on the resource sector who spoke off the record because of company policy.

Kinross Gold Corporation  (NYSE:KGC) recently provided its preliminary operating results for the full-year 2011 and outlook for 2012, and declared a project optimization process to improve capital allocation, project sequencing, and investment returns.  The Company’s 2011 full-year production is expected to be about 2.6 million gold equivalent ounces, that lies in the previously-stated guidance range. For the current year Kinross intends to produce about 2.6-2.8 million gold equivalent ounces with the help of its current operations.

The Company’s stock price continues to trade near its 52 week lows in the $9 to $10 range. KGC’s stock price decreased about 2.79% and closed at $10.10, near to the lower limit of 52 week range. The stock’s violatility index remained at 3.52%.

The Company also announced that the ex-dividend date is tomorrow, March 21, 2012. Owners of shares as of market close today will be eligible for a dividend of 8 cents per share. At a price of $9.79 as of 9:30 a.m. ET, the dividend yield is 1.6%. The average volume for Kinross has been 7.7 million shares per day over the past 30 days. Kinross has a market cap of $12.04 billion and is part of the basic materials sector and metals & mining industry. Shares are down 12.9% year to date as of the close of trading on Monday.

Kinross Gold Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in mining and processing gold ores. It is also involved in the exploration and acquisition of gold bearing properties. The company has a P/E ratio of 23.2, above the average metals & mining industry P/E ratio of 13.4 and above the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7.