Schroder Investment Management Group Sells 1,068,330 Shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Schroder Investment Management Group lowered its stake in shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) by 58.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 757,490 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock after selling 1,068,330 shares during the quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group’s holdings in Barrick Gold were worth $11,711,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Barrick Gold during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 619.7% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 3,073 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 2,646 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Barrick Gold by 196.9% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 4,178 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 2,771 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in Barrick Gold during the fourth quarter worth about $65,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. increased its position in Barrick Gold by 119.4% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 4,848 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 2,638 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America downgraded Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $21.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $23.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Barrick Gold to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $21.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.71.

Barrick Gold Price Performance

Barrick Gold stock opened at $19.38 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $18.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.03. The firm has a market cap of $33.43 billion, a PE ratio of 15.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 2.89 and a quick ratio of 2.15. Barrick Gold Corp has a one year low of $15.11 and a one year high of $21.35.

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 return on equity of 6.76% and a net margin of 16.59%. As a group, research analysts expect that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 EPS 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 given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.06%. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio is 32.52%.

Barrick Gold announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the gold and copper producer to repurchase up to 3.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors 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.