Investors Buy High Volume of Call Options on Newmont (NYSE:NEM)

Newmont Co. (NYSE:NEM) saw unusually large options trading on Friday. Traders purchased 57,822 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 61% compared to the average volume of 35,925 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on NEM. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Newmont from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Newmont from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. CIBC raised shares of Newmont from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $46.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Newmont from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Newmont from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $58.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.15.

Newmont Stock Performance

NEM traded down $0.47 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $48.78. 19,926,394 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,319,217. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.97 billion, a P/E ratio of -23.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 0.50. Newmont has a 52-week low of $29.42 and a 52-week high of $58.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $53.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.74.

Newmont (NYSE:NEM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The basic materials company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.86 by ($0.05). Newmont had a positive return on equity of 8.35% and a negative net margin of 13.16%. The firm had revenue of $4.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.36 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 84.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Newmont will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

Newmont Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 27th. Newmont’s dividend payout ratio is presently -47.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Newmont news, CEO Thomas Ronald Palmer sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.81, for a total value of $1,076,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 271,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,607,746.89. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Peter Toth sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.81, for a total transaction of $161,430.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 91,596 shares in the company, valued at $4,928,780.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Thomas Ronald Palmer sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.81, for a total transaction of $1,076,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 271,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,607,746.89. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,434,640 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Newmont

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Newmont by 13.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 134,940,345 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,836,262,000 after buying an additional 16,190,422 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Newmont by 2.6% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 50,918,066 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,131,939,000 after purchasing an additional 1,289,084 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of Newmont by 1.4% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,071,845 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $337,909,000 after purchasing an additional 109,084 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Newmont by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,912,922 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $289,445,000 after purchasing an additional 545,903 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Newmont by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,907,101 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $175,872,000 after buying an additional 313,736 shares in the last quarter. 68.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.