As Gold Stocks Soar, Here Are The 5 That Hedge Funds Like The Most

#4 Kinross Gold Corporation (USA) (NYSE:KGC)

– Hedge Funds with Long Positions (as of December 31): 22

– Value of Hedge Funds’ Holdings (as of December 31): $152.62 Million

The number of hedge funds in our system with stakes in Kinross Gold Corporation (USA) (NYSE:KGC) increased to 22 from 21 during the December quarter, while the value of their holdings in the company grew to $152.62 million from $148.37 million quarter-over-quarter. Kinross Gold is an Ontario-based senior gold mining company that has mines and projects in the United States, Brazil, Chile, Ghana, Mauritania, and Russia. In January 2015, the company announced the completion of its acquisition of 100% of the Bald Mountain gold mine and the remaining 50% of the Round Mountain gold mine in Nevada (Kinross previously owned 50% of this mine) from Barrick Gold Corporation. In early March 2016, Kinross Gold also announced the completion of a bought deal public offering of 83.40 million common shares at a price of $3.00 per unit, which generated roughly $250 million in gross proceeds. The net proceeds from the offering will be used to strengthen the company’s balance sheet and enhance its liquidity position by using $175 million to repay the credit facilities exploited to purchase the aforementioned assets from Barrick Gold. The remaining proceeds are intended to be used for repaying debt maturing in 2016 and covering general corporate expenses. Shares of Kinross Gold are up by 23% over the past 52 weeks, after having skyrocketed by 58% this year. Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies upped its stake in Kinross Gold Corporation (USA) (NYSE:KGC) by 13% during the final quarter of 2015, to 33.04 million shares.

#3 Goldcorp Inc. (USA) (NYSE:GG)

– Hedge Funds with Long Positions (as of December 31): 25

– Value of Hedge Funds’ Holdings (as of December 31): $736.53 Million

The smart money sentiment towards Goldcorp Inc. (USA) (NYSE:GG) decreased in the December quarter, as the number of funds with positions in the company dropped to 25 from 29 during the quarter. Similarly, the value of hedge funds’ stakes in Goldcorp declined to $736.53 million from $871.28 million quarter-over-quarter. The gold producer has seen its shares advance by 36% since the beginning of 2016, mainly owing to the recent rally in the price of the yellow metal. The company has undergone serious cost-reduction efforts in the past year or so, which included headcount reductions at corporate and regional offices, workforce reductions at certain mine sites, and capital reductions and productivity improvement at all of its mine sites. Nonetheless, Moody’s Investors Service recently downgraded the gold miner’s unsecured ratings to Baa3 from Baa2 and assigned a negative outlook. This downgrade reflects the deterioration of the company’s profitability and coverage metrics, as well as the rating agency’s expectations of sustained weakness in these metrics through 2016. It should be noted that Goldcorp’s free cash flow for 2015 increased to $335 million from a negative free cash flow of $1.0 billion in 2014, mainly due to lower capital expenditures as major mine construction is now finalized. Israel Englander’s Millennium Management reported owning 7.01 million shares of Goldcorp Inc. (USA) (NYSE:GG) in its 13F for the final quarter of 2015.