Lonestar Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Lonestar Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 175,000 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock, valued at approximately $2,712,000. Barrick Gold comprises 1.0% of Lonestar Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 2.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,563,361 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,358,533 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $1,060,036,000 after buying an additional 1,195,585 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 17.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 64,310,800 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $996,802,000 after buying an additional 9,598,292 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 136.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 33,293,792 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $516,055,000 after buying an additional 19,189,830 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi lifted its position in Barrick Gold by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 14,120,278 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $223,665,000 after acquiring an additional 236,116 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on GOLD shares. National Bankshares restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Barrick Gold in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $23.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from $21.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 5th. Finally, TD Securities dropped their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.05.

Barrick Gold Price Performance

Shares of Barrick Gold stock opened at $19.05 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $32.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.55. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $18.95 and its 200 day moving average is $17.90. 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 data on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.52%.

Barrick Gold announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the gold and copper producer to repurchase up to 3.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors 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.