Newmont Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:NEM)

Newmont Co. (NYSE:NEM) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Investors bought 53,748 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 26% compared to the typical volume of 42,662 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on NEM. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Newmont in a research note on Monday, January 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $47.20 price objective for the company. National Bank Financial upgraded Newmont to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Newmont from $52.00 to $50.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Newmont from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, TD Securities dropped 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Newmont currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.09.

Newmont Stock Performance

NEM traded up $2.44 during trading on Thursday, reaching $51.19. 16,173,235 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,770,093. Newmont has a fifty-two week low of $36.60 and a fifty-two week high of $58.72. The company has a market capitalization of $57.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.45, a PEG ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 0.54. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $45.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.08.

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

Newmont Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. Newmont’s payout ratio is 34.13%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Peter Toth sold 3,000 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 transaction of $131,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 86,526 shares in the company, valued at $3,782,051.46. The trade was a 3.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Bruce R. Brook sold 2,077 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value of $83,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 52,070 shares in the company, valued at $2,082,800. This represents a 3.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 33,231 shares of company stock worth $1,388,758. Insiders own 0.05% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Newmont

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its stake in shares of Newmont by 58.6% during the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 14,851 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $794,000 after purchasing an additional 5,489 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC increased its position in Newmont by 5.8% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 104,301 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,575,000 after purchasing an additional 5,695 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Newmont by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 344,328 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $18,404,000 after purchasing an additional 19,366 shares during the last quarter. Vestcor Inc raised its stake in shares of Newmont by 11.3% during the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 23,136 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,237,000 after buying an additional 2,340 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Newmont by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,484,382 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,253,457,000 after acquiring an additional 326,243 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.85% of the company’s stock.

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.