Ruffer LLP Buys 1,325,119 Shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Ruffer LLP boosted its stake in shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) by 14.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,269,848 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock after buying an additional 1,325,119 shares during the quarter. Barrick Gold makes up approximately 5.7% of Ruffer LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Ruffer LLP owned 0.59% of Barrick Gold worth $159,180,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BNP Paribas lifted its holdings in Barrick Gold by 221.7% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 3,066 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 2,113 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 619.7% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 3,073 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 2,646 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 24.1% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,399 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 659 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Barrick Gold in the 4th quarter worth about $65,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 196.9% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 4,178 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 2,771 shares in the last quarter. 62.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised Barrick Gold from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Berenberg Bank boosted their price objective on Barrick Gold from $37.00 to $38.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Raymond James decreased their price objective on Barrick Gold from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup cut their target price on Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, CIBC downgraded Barrick Gold from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Barrick Gold currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.75.

Barrick Gold Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:GOLD opened at $18.61 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $32.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.58. Barrick Gold Corp has a 1 year low of $15.11 and a 1 year high of $21.35. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $16.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.14. 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 (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting 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, analysts expect that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 EPS for the current year.

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

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 2.15%. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.52%.

Barrick Gold declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the gold and copper producer to reacquire up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership 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.