Scotia Capital Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Scotia Capital Inc. trimmed its stake in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) by 14.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 528,299 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock after selling 91,896 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc.’s holdings in Barrick Gold were worth $8,169,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank raised their price objective 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. National Bankshares reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Barrick Gold in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stifel Canada raised Barrick Gold to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. TD Securities decreased their target price on Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Barrick Gold from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.79.

Barrick Gold Stock Up 2.3 %

GOLD stock opened at $19.24 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $33.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.64, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Barrick Gold Corp has a twelve month low of $15.11 and a twelve month high of $21.35. The company’s 50 day moving average is $18.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.92.

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

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.52%.

Barrick Gold announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share 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 buy up to 3.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management 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.