Levin Capital Strategies L.P. Decreases Stock Holdings in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Levin Capital Strategies L.P. decreased its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) by 35.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 24,729 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock after selling 13,703 shares during the period. Levin Capital Strategies L.P.’s holdings in Barrick Gold were worth $383,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Barrick Gold by 451.7% in the 3rd quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,909 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,563 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas lifted its holdings in Barrick Gold by 221.7% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 3,066 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 2,113 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 2,646 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 659 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in Barrick Gold in the 4th quarter valued at $65,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

Barrick Gold Stock Performance

NYSE GOLD opened at $17.74 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $30.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 2.89 and a quick ratio of 2.15. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $16.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.19. Barrick Gold Corp has a 1-year low of $14.56 and a 1-year 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 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.46. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 6.76% and a net margin of 16.59%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 EPS for the current year.

Barrick Gold declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase 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 reacquire up to 3.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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 dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. Barrick Gold’s payout ratio is 32.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on GOLD shares. CIBC lowered Barrick Gold from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Bank of America lowered Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $18.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. TD Securities cut their target price on Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup cut their target price on Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on Barrick Gold from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Barrick Gold currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.75.

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.