Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited (NYSE:HMY) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited (NYSE:HMY) saw a large increase in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 13,320,000 shares, an increase of 26.0% from the March 31st total of 10,570,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 6,450,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.1 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Harmony Gold Mining

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Harmony Gold Mining by 30.0% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 75,016,459 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $612,884,000 after acquiring an additional 17,298,604 shares during the period. Polunin Capital Partners Ltd increased its position in shares of Harmony Gold Mining by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. Polunin Capital Partners Ltd now owns 11,083,569 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $90,553,000 after purchasing an additional 1,005,685 shares during the last quarter. Kercheville Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Harmony Gold Mining during the 1st quarter valued at $770,000. Veracity Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Harmony Gold Mining during the 1st quarter worth $115,000. Finally, Norden Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Harmony Gold Mining in the 1st quarter worth about $303,000. 31.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Harmony Gold Mining Stock Down 6.0 %

Shares of HMY traded down $0.55 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $8.56. 5,589,372 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,940,817. Harmony Gold Mining has a 52 week low of $3.41 and a 52 week high of $9.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $7.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $6.40. The company has a market cap of $5.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.52 and a beta of 1.71.

Harmony Gold Mining Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th were given a dividend of $0.062 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 11th. This represents a dividend yield of 1.2%. This is a boost from Harmony Gold Mining’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.03. Harmony Gold Mining’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Harmony Gold Mining from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Harmony Gold Mining from $3.20 to $4.90 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, HSBC downgraded Harmony Gold Mining from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th.

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.