Newmont Co. (NYSE:NEM) Short Interest Up 31.3% in February

Newmont Co. (NYSE:NEM) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 21,640,000 shares, a growth of 31.3% from the January 31st total of 16,480,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 9,840,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days. Approximately 1.9% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on NEM. CLSA assumed coverage on shares of Newmont in a research note on Friday, November 29th. They set an “underperform” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Newmont from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Bernstein Bank raised their target price on Newmont from $55.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Newmont from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Newmont in a report on Monday, January 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $47.20 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.16.

Insider Buying and Selling at Newmont

In other news, EVP Peter Toth sold 3,000 shares of Newmont stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value of $120,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 82,596 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,303,840. This trade represents a 3.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Natascha Viljoen sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value of $360,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 145,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,838,680. This represents a 5.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,231 shares of company stock valued at $1,388,758 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Newmont

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Newmont by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 49,747,598 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,851,606,000 after purchasing an additional 797,445 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Newmont by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,697,779 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $919,484,000 after buying an additional 1,213,397 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Newmont during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $626,074,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Newmont by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,742,155 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $474,263,000 after acquiring an additional 1,309,177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Newmont by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 12,302,579 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $481,400,000 after acquiring an additional 1,507,708 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.85% of the company’s stock.

Newmont Stock Performance

Shares of NEM stock opened at $43.89 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $42.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.46 billion, a PE ratio of 14.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 0.52. Newmont has a 52-week low of $33.29 and a 52-week high of $58.72.

Newmont (NYSE:NEM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $5.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.32 billion. Newmont had a net margin of 17.92% and a return on equity of 13.52%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Newmont will post 3.45 EPS for the current year.

Newmont Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 4th. Newmont’s payout ratio is 34.13%.

Newmont Company Profile

Newmont Corporation engages in the production and exploration of gold. It also explores for copper, silver, zinc, and lead. The company has operations and/or assets in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Peru, Suriname, Argentina, Chile, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Ecuador, Fiji, and Ghana.