8,548 Shares in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) Purchased by Westpac Banking Corp

Westpac Banking Corp purchased a new position in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 8,548 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock, valued at approximately $132,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOLD. Chelsea Counsel Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 1.4% in the third quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 42,973 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $855,000 after buying an additional 590 shares in the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in Barrick Gold by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 14,051 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 880 shares in the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 22,025 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $341,000 after purchasing an additional 956 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 29,751 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $461,000 after purchasing an additional 974 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 30,510 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $473,000 after purchasing an additional 1,035 shares during the last quarter. 62.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Barrick Gold Trading Down 9.0 %

Shares of NYSE GOLD opened at $17.64 on Friday. Barrick Gold Corp has a fifty-two week low of $15.11 and a fifty-two 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 cap of $30.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.34, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.58. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $18.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.01.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 6.76% and a net margin of 16.59%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.52%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on GOLD. Stifel Canada raised Barrick Gold to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. UBS Group raised shares of Barrick Gold from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $21.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Finally, National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Barrick Gold to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Six research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.79.

Barrick Gold Company 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.