Principal Securities Inc. Grows Holdings in Newmont Co. (NYSE:NEM)

Principal Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Newmont Co. (NYSE:NEM) by 196.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,750 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,813 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Newmont were worth $214,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Newmont by 6,387.0% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 979,921 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $52,377,000 after purchasing an additional 964,815 shares in the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd purchased a new stake in Newmont during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $529,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Newmont by 20.9% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 94,978 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,119,000 after buying an additional 16,399 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Newmont by 0.6% in the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 142,583 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,621,000 after buying an additional 861 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its position in shares of Newmont by 8.6% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 985,815 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $52,124,000 after acquiring an additional 77,806 shares during the last quarter. 68.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Newmont Stock Performance

Shares of NEM opened at $44.05 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a current ratio of 1.96. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $41.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.42. The stock has a market cap of $50.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 0.52. Newmont Co. has a one year low of $29.42 and a one year high of $58.72.

Newmont (NYSE:NEM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.29. Newmont had a return on equity of 13.52% and a net margin of 17.92%. The firm had revenue of $5.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.32 billion. As a group, research analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. Newmont’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.13%.

Insider Activity at Newmont

In other news, EVP Peter Toth sold 3,000 shares of Newmont stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.89, for a total transaction of $128,670.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 79,596 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,413,872.44. The trade was a 3.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Natascha Viljoen sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.89, for a total transaction of $386,010.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 136,967 shares in the company, valued at $5,874,514.63. This trade represents a 6.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 28,154 shares of company stock worth $1,166,843 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NEM. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Newmont from $62.00 to $59.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 25th. CIBC downgraded Newmont from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Newmont in a report on Monday, January 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $47.20 price target for the company. Bernstein Bank increased their target price on Newmont from $55.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Newmont from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.37.

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.