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

Newmont Co. (NYSE:NEM) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders acquired 57,822 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 61% compared to the typical daily volume of 35,925 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Newmont from $54.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. CIBC upgraded Newmont from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $61.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Veritas raised Newmont to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Newmont from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Newmont from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.85.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Newmont news, CEO Thomas Ronald Palmer sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.51, for a total value of $990,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 311,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,420,830.19. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Peter Toth sold 3,000 shares of Newmont 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Thomas Ronald Palmer sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.51, for a total transaction of $990,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 311,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,420,830.19. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,434,640 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Newmont

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NEM. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Newmont by 716.7% during the third quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,067 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $217,000 after purchasing an additional 3,569 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Newmont by 24.2% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 19,505 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,043,000 after purchasing an additional 3,797 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Newmont by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 30,571 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,634,000 after buying an additional 3,676 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in Newmont by 0.5% in the third quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 861,012 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $46,021,000 after buying an additional 4,637 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Equity Partners acquired a new stake in Newmont in the third quarter valued at approximately $436,000. 68.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Newmont Price Performance

NEM opened at $48.42 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.56 billion, a P/E ratio of -22.84, a PEG ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 0.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $53.39 and a 200-day moving average of $46.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Newmont has a 12-month low of $29.42 and a 12-month high of $58.72.

Newmont (NYSE:NEM) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $4.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.36 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 84.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Newmont will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Newmont Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. Newmont’s dividend payout ratio is presently -47.17%.

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.