SouthState Corp Cuts Stock Position in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

SouthState Corp reduced its position in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) by 18.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 380,187 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock after selling 88,257 shares during the quarter. SouthState Corp’s holdings in Barrick Gold were worth $5,893,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GOLD. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted 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 in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 149,305 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $2,970,000 after purchasing an additional 6,499 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 31.4% in the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 17,830 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 4,258 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 178,615 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $3,553,000 after purchasing an additional 5,166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Barrick Gold by 128.7% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 174,304 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $3,467,000 after acquiring an additional 98,086 shares during the period. 62.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on GOLD shares. Bank of America lowered Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $21.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Raymond James reduced their price target on Barrick Gold from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group upgraded Barrick Gold from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. TD Securities reduced their price target on Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on Barrick Gold from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.75.

Barrick Gold Trading Up 0.4 %

GOLD opened at $18.80 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $32.46 billion, a PE ratio of 15.28, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The business has a 50 day moving average of $17.15 and a 200-day moving average of $18.06. Barrick Gold Corp has a 52 week low of $0.25 and a 52 week high of $21.35.

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, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 6.76% and a net margin of 16.59%. Equities research analysts predict that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Barrick Gold’s payout ratio is presently 32.52%.

Barrick Gold declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the gold and copper producer to reacquire up to 3.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Barrick Gold 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.