Newmont (NYSE:NEM) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Shares of Newmont Co. (NYSE:NEM) gapped up before the market opened 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NEM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Newmont from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Newmont from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $50.00 to $60.00 in a report on Friday. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Newmont from $52.00 to $50.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Newmont from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, National Bank Financial raised shares of Newmont to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.55.

Newmont Price Performance

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 firm has a market capitalization of $61.03 billion, a PE ratio of 18.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 0.54. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $45.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.05.

Newmont (NYSE:NEM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $5.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.32 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Newmont Co. will post 3.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Newmont Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. Newmont’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.13%.

Insider Transactions at Newmont

In other news, EVP Peter Toth sold 3,000 shares of Newmont stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.89, for a total transaction of $128,670.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 79,596 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,413,872.44. The trade was a 3.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Natascha Viljoen sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.89, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 6.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 19,154 shares of company stock valued at $825,678. Corporate insiders own 0.05% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Newmont

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NEM. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Newmont by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 5,992 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its stake in Newmont by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 2,786 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $135,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Newmont by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 11,788 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $439,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. Keel Point LLC raised its holdings in shares of Newmont by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 14,774 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $550,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Newmont by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,653 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $210,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.