Victory Capital Management Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Victory Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,832,841 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock after selling 77,809 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Barrick Gold were worth $43,909,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in Barrick Gold by 42.4% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 184,897 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $3,678,000 after acquiring an additional 55,051 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Barrick Gold during the 3rd quarter valued at $337,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 483,613 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $9,630,000 after purchasing an additional 80,366 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Barrick Gold by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 28,777 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $572,000 after buying an additional 1,685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oxbow Advisors LLC increased its position in Barrick Gold by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC now owns 64,847 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $1,290,000 after buying an additional 2,308 shares in the last quarter. 62.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Barrick Gold Stock Up 0.8 %

Barrick Gold stock opened at $18.61 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $16.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.14. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market cap of $32.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.58. Barrick Gold Corp has a 52 week low of $15.11 and a 52 week high of $21.35.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, hitting 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Barrick Gold declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the gold and copper producer to reacquire up to 3.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup lowered their price target on Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Cibc World Mkts downgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. UBS Group raised shares of Barrick Gold from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America downgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $21.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, TD Securities cut their target price on Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.75.

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.