Oaktree Capital Management LP Buys Shares of 1,015,063 Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Oaktree Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,015,063 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock, valued at approximately $15,733,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of GOLD. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in 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 during the period. 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 worth $1,060,036,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195,585 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 2.7% in 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 last quarter. Amundi grew its position in Barrick Gold by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 14,120,278 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $223,665,000 after buying an additional 236,116 shares during the period. Finally, Ruffer LLP increased its holdings in Barrick Gold by 14.8% during 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

Barrick Gold Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GOLD opened at $19.11 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $32.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.58. Barrick Gold Corp has a 52-week low of $15.11 and a 52-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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $17.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.04.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.46. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 6.76% and a net margin of 16.59%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Barrick Gold’s payout ratio is 32.52%.

Barrick Gold announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the gold and copper producer to repurchase up to 3.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GOLD. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. National Bank Financial upgraded Barrick Gold to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Raymond James lowered their price objective on Barrick Gold from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. TD Securities reduced their target price on shares of 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 raised shares of 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Barrick Gold currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.75.

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.