Howard Capital Management Inc. Boosts Position in Newmont Co. (NYSE:NEM)

Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Newmont Co. (NYSE:NEM) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,653 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 292 shares during the quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Newmont were worth $210,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Waverton Investment Management Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Newmont by 14.0% in the third quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 531,041 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,379,000 after purchasing an additional 65,075 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Newmont by 117.3% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 34,686 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,854,000 after purchasing an additional 18,722 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Newmont by 173.0% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,491,126 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $92,832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,578,545 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Newmont by 57.1% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,379,901 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $88,580,000 after acquiring an additional 865,213 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Red Cedar Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Newmont in the third quarter valued at $1,263,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.85% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group downgraded Newmont from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $67.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bernstein Bank upped their price target on Newmont from $55.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Newmont from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Raymond James lowered their target price on Newmont from $62.00 to $59.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Newmont from $52.00 to $50.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.37.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Bruce R. Brook sold 2,077 shares of Newmont stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total transaction of $83,080.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 52,070 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,082,800. The trade was a 3.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Peter Toth sold 3,000 shares of Newmont stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value of $120,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 82,596 shares in the company, valued at $3,303,840. This represents a 3.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 28,154 shares of company stock worth $1,166,843. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Newmont Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE NEM opened at $42.90 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $48.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 0.52. Newmont Co. has a 12-month low of $29.42 and a 12-month high of $58.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.39.

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

Newmont Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 4th. Newmont’s payout ratio is currently 34.13%.

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.