Russell Investments Group Ltd. Purchases 394,746 Shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) by 15.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,976,012 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock after buying an additional 394,746 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.17% of Barrick Gold worth $46,124,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Barrick Gold during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 2,646 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Barrick Gold during the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in Barrick Gold by 196.9% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 4,178 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 2,771 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 119.4% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 4,848 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 2,638 shares during the last quarter. 62.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Barrick Gold Price Performance

Shares of Barrick Gold stock opened at $17.64 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $18.17 and its 200 day moving average is $17.98. Barrick Gold Corp has a one year low of $15.11 and a one year high of $21.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.89. The stock has a market cap of $30.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.55.

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

Barrick Gold declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the gold and copper producer to buy up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 2.27%. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on GOLD. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Barrick Gold from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. TD Securities lowered their price target on Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Barrick Gold from $21.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. StockNews.com raised Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Stifel Canada raised shares of Barrick Gold to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.79.

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.