Keene & Associates Inc. Sells 6,358 Shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Keene & Associates Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 204,775 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock after selling 6,358 shares during the quarter. Barrick Gold comprises about 2.5% of Keene & Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Keene & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Barrick Gold were worth $3,174,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 198.1% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,407 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 935 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank bought a new position in shares of Barrick Gold during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 451.7% during the third quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,909 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,563 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas raised its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 221.7% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 3,066 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 2,113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 24.1% during the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,399 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 659 shares during the last quarter. 62.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Barrick Gold Trading Up 2.4 %

NYSE:GOLD opened at $18.38 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $16.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.16. Barrick Gold Corp has a 52 week low of $14.27 and a 52 week high of $21.35. The company has a quick ratio of 2.06, a current ratio of 2.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market cap of $31.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.76, a PEG ratio of 0.39 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, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46. Barrick Gold had a net margin of 13.19% and a return on equity of 5.82%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the gold and copper producer to reacquire up to 3.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Barrick Gold’s payout ratio is 32.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group downgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Cibc World Mkts downgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $21.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, CIBC downgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.75.

About Barrick Gold

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.