Short Interest in DRDGOLD Limited (NYSE:DRD) Drops By 21.3%

DRDGOLD Limited (NYSE:DRD) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,290,000 shares, a decline of 21.3% from the February 13th total of 1,640,000 shares. Approximately 1.5% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 278,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.6 days.

Institutional Trading of DRDGOLD

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRD. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of DRDGOLD by 12.5% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 435,243 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,196,000 after buying an additional 48,442 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in DRDGOLD during the 3rd quarter valued at about $431,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in DRDGOLD in the 3rd quarter valued at about $119,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in DRDGOLD by 11.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 93,206 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $899,000 after purchasing an additional 9,765 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in DRDGOLD by 53.0% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,240 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,122 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 14.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRD has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. HC Wainwright cut their price target on shares of DRDGOLD from $17.25 to $16.25 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com raised DRDGOLD from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday.

DRDGOLD Trading Up 7.8 %

NYSE DRD traded up $1.05 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $14.54. The company had a trading volume of 922,793 shares, compared to its average volume of 304,293. DRDGOLD has a 1-year low of $7.53 and a 1-year high of $14.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.54 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $11.03 and a 200 day moving average of $10.22.

DRDGOLD Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.1628 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a dividend yield of 1.8%. DRDGOLD’s payout ratio is currently 19.05%.

DRDGOLD Company Profile

DRDGOLD Limited, a gold mining company, engages in the surface gold tailings retreatment business in South Africa. It also involved in the exploration, extraction, processing, and smelting activities. The company recovers gold from surface tailings in the Witwatersrand basin in Gauteng province. DRDGOLD Limited was formerly known as Durban Roodepoort Deep Limited and changed its name to DRDGOLD Limited in 2004.