Short Interest in DRDGOLD Limited (NYSE:DRD) Increases By 18.4%

DRDGOLD Limited (NYSE:DRD) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,670,000 shares, a growth of 18.4% from the September 15th total of 1,410,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 320,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.2 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of DRDGOLD by 270.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 79,277 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $683,000 after acquiring an additional 57,875 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in DRDGOLD by 11.3% during the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 17,778 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $153,000 after purchasing an additional 1,802 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of DRDGOLD by 34.3% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 208,006 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,791,000 after purchasing an additional 53,081 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of DRDGOLD by 4,107.5% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 6,143 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 5,997 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of DRDGOLD by 36.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 679,600 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,851,000 after buying an additional 182,900 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 14.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DRD. HC Wainwright decreased their target price on shares of DRDGOLD from $15.50 to $13.25 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of DRDGOLD from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th.

DRDGOLD Price Performance

DRDGOLD stock traded up $0.50 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $10.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 213,561 shares, compared to its average volume of 314,614. DRDGOLD has a 12 month low of $6.48 and a 12 month high of $10.86. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $9.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $8.94.

DRDGOLD Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a dividend of $0.1126 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This is a positive change from DRDGOLD’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.11. This represents a yield of 1.9%.

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.