Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:B) Shares Acquired by State of Wyoming

State of Wyoming boosted its stake in shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:B) (TSE:ABX) by 50.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 41,102 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,714 shares during the quarter. State of Wyoming’s holdings in Barrick Gold were worth $637,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Barrick Gold during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Barrick Gold during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Barrick Gold by 619.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,646 shares in the last quarter. Pingora Partners LLC raised its stake in Barrick Gold by 250.0% during the 4th quarter. Pingora Partners LLC now owns 3,500 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in Barrick Gold by 196.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,771 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Barrick Gold from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Barrick Gold from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Barrick Gold from $21.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. TD Securities dropped their price objective on Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Barrick Gold in a research note on Monday, May 12th. They issued a “sell” rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.05.

Barrick Gold Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of Barrick Gold stock opened at $17.85 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $19.04 and its 200-day moving average is $17.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.69 billion, a PE ratio of 14.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Barrick Gold Corp has a 12-month low of $17.41 and a 12-month high of $47.50.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:B) (TSE:ABX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.15 billion. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 6.76% and a net margin of 16.59%. Barrick Gold’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.19 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Barrick Gold’s payout ratio is 30.08%.

Barrick Gold declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the gold and copper producer to purchase up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management 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.