Securian Asset Management Inc. Cuts Stake in Newmont Co. (NYSE:NEM)

Securian Asset Management Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Newmont Co. (NYSE:NEM) by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 66,306 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,574 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Newmont were worth $2,776,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Newmont by 43.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 118,749,923 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,915,059,000 after buying an additional 36,170,995 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Newmont by 57.2% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 51,290,469 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,122,913,000 after acquiring an additional 18,664,614 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Newmont in the fourth quarter worth $604,516,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Newmont by 44.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,639,109 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,019,813,000 after purchasing an additional 7,635,657 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Newmont by 39.8% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 23,224,150 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $832,354,000 after buying an additional 6,617,145 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.85% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NEM has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Newmont from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Newmont to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Newmont from $46.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. National Bank Financial lowered Newmont from an “outperform overweight” rating to a “sector perform overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Newmont from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Newmont presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.00.

Insider Transactions at Newmont

In related news, CEO Thomas Ronald Palmer sold 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.13, for a total transaction of $547,690.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 331,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,964,788.97. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Newmont Price Performance

NEM stock traded up $1.25 on Monday, reaching $48.96. The company had a trading volume of 3,272,511 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,064,476. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a current ratio of 2.11. The company’s fifty day moving average is $44.48 and its 200 day moving average is $39.63. The company has a market cap of $56.46 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.87, a PEG ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.47. Newmont Co. has a 1 year low of $29.42 and a 1 year high of $50.72.

Newmont (NYSE:NEM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $4.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.13 billion. Newmont had a negative net margin of 13.16% and a positive return on equity of 8.35%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 64.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.33 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Newmont Co. will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Newmont Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 5th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 5th. Newmont’s payout ratio is currently -37.45%.

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.