South Dakota Investment Council Cuts Holdings in Newmont Co. (NYSE:NEM)

South Dakota Investment Council reduced its position in Newmont Co. (NYSE:NEM) by 23.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,681 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 11,624 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Newmont were worth $1,440,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Newmont by 1.6% in 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 worth $1,253,457,000 after purchasing an additional 326,243 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Newmont by 21.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,052,439 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $376,953,000 after purchasing an additional 1,226,697 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its position in Newmont by 27.5% during the fourth quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 3,456,456 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $128,649,000 after purchasing an additional 744,718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its stake in shares of Newmont by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,422,605 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $182,938,000 after buying an additional 9,500 shares in the last quarter. 68.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Newmont Stock Down 5.9 %

Shares of NYSE NEM opened at $45.25 on Monday. Newmont Co. has a 52-week low of $29.42 and a 52-week high of $58.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.44, a PEG ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $41.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.45. 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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $5.65 billion during 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 expect that Newmont Co. will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Newmont Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. Newmont’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on NEM. CIBC cut shares of Newmont from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. UBS Group downgraded Newmont from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $67.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. CLSA assumed coverage on Newmont in a report on Friday, November 29th. They issued an “underperform” rating for the company. Raymond James decreased their price target on Newmont from $62.00 to $59.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts downgraded Newmont from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Newmont currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.37.

Insider Activity

In other Newmont news, EVP Peter Toth sold 3,000 shares of Newmont stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 10th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 3.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Natascha Viljoen sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 145,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,838,680. The trade was a 5.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 28,154 shares of company stock worth $1,166,843. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.