Gold Fields Limited (NYSE:GFI) to Issue Semi-annual Dividend of $0.38

Gold Fields Limited (NYSE:GFI) announced a semi-annual dividend on Wednesday, March 5th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.3752 per share on Thursday, March 27th. This represents a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a 121.8% increase from Gold Fields’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.17.

Gold Fields has raised its dividend by an average of 2.4% annually over the last three years. Gold Fields has a payout ratio of 14.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Gold Fields to earn $2.18 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.34 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 15.6%.

Gold Fields Stock Performance

Shares of GFI stock traded up $0.45 on Wednesday, reaching $19.47. The stock had a trading volume of 2,798,212 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,982,022. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.65. The stock has a market cap of $17.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.14. Gold Fields has a 1 year low of $12.98 and a 1 year high of $19.80.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GFI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Gold Fields from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Scotiabank increased their price target on Gold Fields from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Gold Fields from $17.10 to $18.80 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.20.

Gold Fields Company Profile

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.