Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Increases Stake in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. lifted its stake in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) by 79.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 125,425 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 55,375 shares during the quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in Barrick Gold were worth $1,941,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 76,299,834 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $1,182,641,000 after purchasing an additional 1,563,361 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 54,712,508 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $1,088,484,000 after purchasing an additional 1,458,084 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 14,120,278 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $223,665,000 after purchasing an additional 236,116 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 33.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 2,854,055 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ruffer LLP raised its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Ruffer LLP now owns 10,269,848 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $159,180,000 after purchasing an additional 1,325,119 shares during the last quarter. 62.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOLD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. CIBC lowered shares of Barrick Gold from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Bank of America lowered shares of Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $21.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Berenberg Bank raised their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $37.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts lowered shares of Barrick Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.75.

Barrick Gold Price Performance

Barrick Gold stock opened at $18.86 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $17.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.05. Barrick Gold Corp has a 1 year low of $0.25 and a 1 year high of $21.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.89.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 anticipate that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.52%.

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.