Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych Allianz Polska S.A. Makes New Investment in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych Allianz Polska S.A. purchased a new position in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 365,238 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock, valued at approximately $5,661,000. Barrick Gold accounts for approximately 7.8% of Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych Allianz Polska S.A.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 76,299,834 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $1,182,641,000 after buying an additional 1,563,361 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 2.7% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Ruffer LLP lifted its position in Barrick Gold by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Ruffer LLP now owns 10,269,848 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $159,180,000 after acquiring an additional 1,325,119 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Barrick Gold by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,358,533 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $1,060,036,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195,585 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mufg Securities Canada LTD. raised its position in Barrick Gold by 71.6% in the 4th quarter. Mufg Securities Canada LTD. now owns 2,669,327 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $41,365,000 after buying an additional 1,113,748 shares during the last quarter. 62.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on GOLD shares. UBS Group upgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. National Bank Financial upgraded Barrick Gold to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Bank of America lowered shares of Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $21.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Barrick Gold currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.75.

Barrick Gold Trading Down 2.3 %

NYSE GOLD opened at $19.11 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 2.89 and a quick ratio of 2.15. Barrick Gold Corp has a 12 month low of $15.11 and a 12 month high of $21.35. The company has a market cap of $32.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50-day moving average of $17.85 and a 200-day moving average of $18.05.

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

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. Barrick Gold’s payout ratio is currently 32.52%.

Barrick Gold announced that its board has authorized a share 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 repurchase up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Barrick Gold Company Profile

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.