Wedbush Securities Inc. Buys 4,535 Shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) by 34.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,598 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,535 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Barrick Gold were worth $273,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Barrick Gold in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 619.7% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 3,073 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 2,646 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Barrick Gold in the fourth quarter worth about $65,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 196.9% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 4,178 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 2,771 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 119.4% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 4,848 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 2,638 shares in the last quarter. 62.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Barrick Gold Stock Performance

NYSE:GOLD opened at $18.80 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $32.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.28, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.93. 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 1-year low of $15.11 and a 1-year high of $21.35.

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

Barrick Gold declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the gold and copper producer to reacquire up to 3.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders 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 2.13%. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on GOLD. National Bank Financial upgraded Barrick Gold to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank increased their price target on Barrick Gold from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America cut Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $21.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Barrick Gold from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price objective on Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $23.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Barrick Gold has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.79.

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.