Oaktree Fund Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Oaktree Fund Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 68,033 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,055,000. Barrick Gold comprises approximately 1.8% of Oaktree Fund Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 120.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 93,622 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $1,862,000 after purchasing an additional 51,117 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new position in Barrick Gold during the third quarter worth $477,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 14.5% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 74,903 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $1,490,000 after acquiring an additional 9,511 shares during the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 16.3% in the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 18,793 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $374,000 after acquiring an additional 2,638 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FORA Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Barrick Gold during the third quarter valued at $287,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

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 quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.89. Barrick Gold Corp has a one year low of $15.11 and a one year high of $21.35. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $17.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.53, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.58.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 earnings per share 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 EPS for the current year.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.52%.

Barrick Gold announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan 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 plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOLD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank upped 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. TD Securities decreased their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Canada upgraded Barrick Gold to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Raymond James lowered their price objective 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. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Barrick Gold currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.75.

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.