Achmea Investment Management B.V. Boosts Stock Position in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Achmea Investment Management B.V. grew its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) by 34.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 567,484 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 144,731 shares during the quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V.’s holdings in Barrick Gold were worth $8,796,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 483,613 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $9,630,000 after purchasing an additional 80,366 shares during the period. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd purchased a new stake in Barrick Gold in the third quarter worth $444,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 4.6% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 149,305 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $2,970,000 after buying an additional 6,499 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 15,912 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $316,000 after buying an additional 1,036 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 21.9% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 138,232 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $2,749,000 after acquiring an additional 24,812 shares during the period. 62.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Barrick Gold Stock Performance

Shares of GOLD opened at $18.73 on Friday. Barrick Gold Corp has a 12-month low of $15.11 and a 12-month high of $21.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market cap of $32.34 billion, a PE ratio of 15.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $17.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.10.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.46. Barrick Gold had a net margin of 16.59% and a return on equity of 6.76%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.52%.

Barrick Gold announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the gold and copper producer to reacquire up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America downgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $18.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group raised Barrick Gold from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Raymond James reduced their price target on Barrick Gold from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.75.

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.