Financial Sense Advisors Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Financial Sense Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) by 71.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 241,623 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock after selling 606,628 shares during the quarter. Barrick Gold makes up 1.2% of Financial Sense Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Financial Sense Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Barrick Gold were worth $3,745,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GOLD. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Barrick Gold by 221.1% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 10,027,811 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $199,427,000 after purchasing an additional 6,904,934 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 33.3% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 11,431,497 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $227,524,000 after buying an additional 2,854,055 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 76,299,834 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $1,182,641,000 after acquiring an additional 1,563,361 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 54,712,508 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $1,088,484,000 after acquiring an additional 1,458,084 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Barrick Gold in the 3rd quarter worth about $20,379,000. 62.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. TD Securities dropped their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Berenberg Bank upped their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $37.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Raymond James reduced their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts cut Barrick Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.75.

Barrick Gold Stock Performance

NYSE GOLD opened at $18.77 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $16.29 and a 200-day moving average of $18.17. Barrick Gold Corp has a 52-week low of $14.27 and a 52-week high of $21.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.89. The company has a market capitalization of $32.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 0.55.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.46. Barrick Gold had a net margin of 16.59% and a return on equity of 6.76%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.13%. Barrick Gold’s payout ratio is 32.52%.

Barrick Gold declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the gold and copper producer to buy up to 3.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Barrick Gold Profile

Barrick Gold Corporation is a sector-leading gold and copper producer.  Its shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol GOLD and on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol ABX.
 
In January 2019 Barrick merged with Randgold Resources and in July that year it combined its gold mines in Nevada, USA, with those of Newmont Corporation in a joint venture, Nevada Gold Mines, which is majority-owned and operated by Barrick.