Shares of RandGold (GOLD) rallied in midday trading after the company reporting earnings for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2015 and announced plans to increase its annual dividend.

WHAT'S NEW: Before the market open, RandGold Resources reported Q4 earnings per share of 47c, down from 53c in the same period last year, and below analysts' consensus estimates of 48c. The company said that the decline in year over year profits reflects the decline in gold price. Pretax profit for the quarter was $70.5M, while revenue was $272.09M, up from $226.32M in the year-ago period, the company said. RandGold said that production for the fourth quarter amounted to 326,430 ounces compared to 287,048 ounces in the same period a year ago.

Looking to fiscal year 2016, the company said it is eyeing gold output of 1.25M-1.3M ounces for FY16, a 3%-75% increase over 2015, and a cash cost of $590-$630 per ounce. Additionally, RanGold expects production to be "relatively consistent" throughout FY16, but will be "slightly weighted" to the second half. RandGold added that it anticipates capital expenditures of $240M in FY16 and $115M in fiscal 2017.

DIVIDEND RAISE: Separately, RandGold said that its board has recommended a 10% hike in its annual dividend to 66c per share from 60c per share. The company said that the proposed increase reflects the strong cash flows generated by the business. If approved by the company's shareholders, the dividend will be payable on May 27 to shareholders on record March 18, RandGold said.

STREET RESEARCH: Following the release of RanGold's earnings report, Deutsche Bank analyst Anna Mulholland downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy. The analyst said that the offering of low cost production and an ungeared balance sheet should provide RandGold a relative premium, but that shares have overshot the firm's fair value and do not offer enough growth or yield to maintain the rally, especially when the firm anticipates gold's run to "peter out." Mulholland said the firm prefers Acacia Mining within the gold space. The analyst added that key risks for the company include higher or lower than expected gold prices, lower or higher than expected costs and volatility in the Euro/Dollar exchange rate.

PRICE ACTION: At midday, RandGold jumped 9.53% to $85.76 in New York.