Smith Group Asset Management LLC Takes Position in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Smith Group Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 80,000 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,240,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 221.1% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 10,027,811 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $199,427,000 after acquiring an additional 6,904,934 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Barrick Gold by 33.3% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 11,431,497 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $227,524,000 after purchasing an additional 2,854,055 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Barrick Gold by 2.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,458,084 shares in the last quarter. Systrade AG purchased a new stake in shares of Barrick Gold during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,094,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Barrick Gold in the 3rd quarter valued at $20,379,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on GOLD. Scotiabank lowered shares of Barrick Gold from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $19.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. CIBC downgraded Barrick Gold from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Raymond James dropped their price target on Barrick Gold from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Bank of America cut Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.92.

Barrick Gold Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:GOLD opened at $15.95 on Wednesday. Barrick Gold Corp has a fifty-two week low of $13.76 and a fifty-two week high of $21.35. The company has a quick ratio of 2.06, a current ratio of 2.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $16.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.28. The company has a market cap of $27.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.15, a PEG ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 0.54.

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Barrick Gold’s payout ratio is 43.01%.

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.