Newmont (NYSE:NEM) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Newmont Co. (NYSE:NEM)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $50.94, but opened at $53.84. Newmont shares last traded at $54.79, with a volume of 5,291,528 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on NEM shares. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Newmont in a research report on Monday, January 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $47.20 price target for the company. UBS Group raised shares of Newmont from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $50.00 to $60.00 in a report on Friday. TD Securities decreased their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Newmont from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Newmont from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.55.

Newmont Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $61.03 billion, a PE ratio of 18.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a current ratio of 1.96. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.05.

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

Newmont Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. Newmont’s payout ratio is presently 34.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Bruce R. Brook sold 2,077 shares of Newmont stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.71, for a total value of $90,785.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 47,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,094,408.36. This trade represents a 4.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Natascha Viljoen sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.89, for a total value of $386,010.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 136,967 shares in the company, valued at $5,874,514.63. The trade was a 6.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 19,154 shares of company stock valued at $825,678 in the last quarter. 0.05% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Newmont

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Newmont during the fourth quarter valued at $626,074,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Newmont in the 4th quarter worth about $92,693,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Newmont by 70.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,644,953 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $210,105,000 after purchasing an additional 2,338,953 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in Newmont during the 4th quarter valued at about $76,281,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Newmont by 23.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,520,354 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $391,568,000 after purchasing an additional 2,028,150 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.85% of the company’s stock.

About Newmont

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.