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

Newmont Co. (NYSE:NEM) was the target of 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. Currently, 1.9% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 9,840,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Newmont Price Performance

NYSE:NEM traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $42.51. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 11,855,035 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,751,259. Newmont has a twelve month low of $33.22 and a twelve month high of $58.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.96 and a quick ratio of 1.73. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.15. The company has a market capitalization of $47.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.51, a PEG ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 0.52.

Newmont (NYSE:NEM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $5.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.32 billion. Newmont had a net margin of 17.92% and a return on equity of 13.52%. On average, analysts anticipate that Newmont will post 3.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Newmont Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.35%. Newmont’s payout ratio is presently 34.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Newmont from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. CLSA assumed coverage on shares of Newmont in a report on Friday, November 29th. They issued an “underperform” rating for the company. TD Securities decreased their target price on shares of Newmont from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Newmont in a research report on Monday, January 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $47.20 price target for the company. Finally, Bernstein Bank increased their price target on Newmont from $55.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.16.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Newmont news, Director Bruce R. Brook sold 2,077 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total transaction of $83,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 52,070 shares in the company, valued at $2,082,800. This trade represents a 3.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Peter Toth sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The shares were 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 directly owns 82,596 shares in the company, valued at $3,303,840. The trade was a 3.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 28,154 shares of company stock valued at $1,166,843. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in 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 worth $1,851,606,000 after purchasing an additional 797,445 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Newmont in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $626,074,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 1,309,177 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi grew its holdings in Newmont by 14.0% during 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 last quarter. 68.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.