Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited (NYSE:HMY) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Key Points

• Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited (NYSE:HMY) experienced a significant drop in short interest by 32.5% in September, with current short interest totaling 5,390,000 shares.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed views on the stock; while HSBC upgraded it to "buy," Zacks Research downgraded it to "strong sell," leading to a consensus rating of "Hold" with an average price target of $12.20.
• The company declared a semi-annual dividend of $0.0893 per share, representing a yield of 98.0%, highlighting its commitment to returning capital to shareholders.

Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited (NYSE:HMY - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totaling 5,390,000 shares, a decrease of 32.5% from the September 15th total of 7,990,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 5,230,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.0 days. Based on an average trading volume of 5,230,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.0 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Harmony Gold Mining in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $16.00 price objective on the stock. HSBC raised Harmony Gold Mining from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Zacks Research lowered Harmony Gold Mining from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Harmony Gold Mining in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Investec raised shares of Harmony Gold Mining to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $12.20.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Shilanski & Associates Inc. boosted its position in shares of Harmony Gold Mining by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Shilanski & Associates Inc. now owns 22,909 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $416,000 after acquiring an additional 670 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Harmony Gold Mining by 16.7% in the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,494 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 788 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Harmony Gold Mining by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,689 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $128,000 after purchasing an additional 866 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in Harmony Gold Mining by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 16,323 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 867 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in Harmony Gold Mining by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 22,767 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $318,000 after purchasing an additional 993 shares during the last quarter. 31.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Harmony Gold Mining Price Performance

HMY traded up $0.05 on Thursday, hitting $17.87. 4,667,933 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,025,184. Harmony Gold Mining has a fifty-two week low of $7.97 and a fifty-two week high of $22.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $16.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.55. The stock has a market cap of $11.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.57 and a beta of 0.79.

Harmony Gold Mining Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 20th. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.0893 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. This represents a yield of 98.0%. Harmony Gold Mining's payout ratio is presently 8.28%.

About Harmony Gold Mining

Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited engages in the exploration, extraction, and processing of gold. The company explores for uranium, silver, copper, and molybdenum deposits. It has eight underground operations in the Witwatersrand Basin; an open-pit mine on the Kraaipan Greenstone Belt; and various surface source operations in South Africa.

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