UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Reduces Stake in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lowered its stake in shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) by 33.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 33,600 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock after selling 17,006 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Barrick Gold were worth $521,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 2.1% in the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 1,563,361 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,358,533 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $1,060,036,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195,585 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Barrick Gold by 2.7% during the third 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 buying an additional 1,458,084 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 14,120,278 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $223,665,000 after purchasing an additional 236,116 shares during the period. Finally, Ruffer LLP grew its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Ruffer LLP now owns 10,269,848 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $159,180,000 after buying an additional 1,325,119 shares in the last quarter. 62.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOLD has been the topic of several recent research reports. National Bank Financial upgraded Barrick Gold to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $23.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. TD Securities reduced their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Canada raised Barrick Gold to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $21.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Barrick Gold presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.71.

Barrick Gold Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GOLD opened at $19.41 on Tuesday. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $17.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.02. The company has a market cap of $33.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.78, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.58. Barrick Gold Corp has a twelve month low of $15.11 and a twelve month high of $21.35.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 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%. Research analysts predict that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.52%.

Barrick Gold announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the gold and copper producer to purchase up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board 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.