Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited (NYSE:HMY) Short Interest Up 26.0% in April

Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited (NYSE:HMY) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 13,320,000 shares, a growth 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 days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on HMY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Harmony Gold Mining from $3.20 to $4.90 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. HSBC downgraded Harmony Gold Mining from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Harmony Gold Mining from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th.

Harmony Gold Mining Stock Down 6.0 %

Shares of HMY traded down $0.55 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $8.56. The company had a trading volume of 5,589,372 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,940,817. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.62. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $7.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $6.40. Harmony Gold Mining has a 52 week low of $3.41 and a 52 week high of $9.80. The company has a market capitalization of $5.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.52 and a beta of 1.71.

Harmony Gold Mining Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th were paid a dividend of $0.062 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 11th. This represents a 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 is currently 10.53%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Harmony Gold Mining

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HMY. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Harmony Gold Mining by 30.0% in 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 lifted its position in Harmony Gold Mining by 10.0% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Kercheville Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Harmony Gold Mining during the first quarter valued at about $770,000. Veracity Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Harmony Gold Mining in the first quarter worth about $115,000. Finally, Norden Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Harmony Gold Mining in the first quarter worth about $303,000. 31.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.