Van ECK Associates Corp Buys 1,563,361 Shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 76,299,834 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,563,361 shares during the period. Barrick Gold makes up 1.5% of Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Barrick Gold were worth $1,182,641,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 221.1% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 10,027,811 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $199,427,000 after acquiring an additional 6,904,934 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 33.3% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 11,431,497 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $227,524,000 after purchasing an additional 2,854,055 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 2.7% during the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 1,458,084 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Barrick Gold in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $20,379,000. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP increased its holdings in Barrick Gold by 114.3% during the third quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 1,447,251 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $28,786,000 after buying an additional 771,857 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on GOLD. Citigroup reduced 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 cut Barrick Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. UBS Group downgraded Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $23.00 to $22.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. CIBC downgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, TD Securities cut their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.83.

Barrick Gold Stock Up 6.5 %

NYSE GOLD opened at $18.18 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.65, a quick ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market cap of $31.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.55, a PEG ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a 50 day moving average of $16.18 and a 200-day moving average of $18.17. Barrick Gold Corp has a 1-year low of $13.76 and a 1-year 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 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.46. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 5.82% and a net margin of 13.19%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio is 43.01%.

Barrick Gold declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding 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 generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.