Magnetar Financial LLC Acquires New Position in Newmont Co. (NYSE:NEM)

Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Newmont Co. (NYSE:NEM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 5,516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NEM. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Newmont by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 49,747,598 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,851,606,000 after acquiring an additional 797,445 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Newmont by 1.4% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 326,243 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in shares of Newmont by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 12,302,579 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $481,400,000 after buying an additional 1,507,708 shares in the last quarter. Ruffer LLP raised its stake in shares of Newmont by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. Ruffer LLP now owns 7,085,101 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $263,706,000 after buying an additional 1,164,870 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Newmont by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,052,439 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $376,953,000 after buying an additional 1,226,697 shares in the last quarter. 68.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Newmont Stock Performance

Shares of NEM stock opened at $47.23 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $44.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.54. Newmont Co. has a one year low of $33.86 and a one year high of $58.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a current ratio of 1.96.

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

Newmont Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. Newmont’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Natascha Viljoen sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total transaction of $360,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 145,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,838,680. This represents a 5.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Peter Toth sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value of $120,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 82,596 shares in the company, valued at $3,303,840. This trade represents a 3.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 33,231 shares of company stock worth $1,388,758 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on NEM shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Newmont from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. TD Securities cut their price objective on Newmont from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. CLSA initiated coverage on Newmont in a report on Friday, November 29th. They set an “underperform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Newmont from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.16.

Newmont 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.