Allianz SE Acquires Shares of 2,176,280 Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Allianz SE bought a new position in shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 2,176,280 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock, valued at approximately $33,726,000. Barrick Gold comprises about 0.9% of Allianz SE’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Allianz SE owned 0.13% of Barrick Gold at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 76,299,834 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $1,182,641,000 after purchasing an additional 1,563,361 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Barrick Gold by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,358,533 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $1,060,036,000 after buying an additional 1,195,585 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Barrick Gold by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 54,712,508 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $1,088,484,000 after buying an additional 1,458,084 shares during the period. Amundi raised its position in Barrick Gold by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 14,120,278 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $223,665,000 after buying an additional 236,116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ruffer LLP lifted its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Ruffer LLP now owns 10,269,848 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $159,180,000 after acquiring an additional 1,325,119 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOLD has been the subject of several analyst reports. National Bank Financial raised shares of Barrick Gold to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. 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. Raymond James decreased their price target on Barrick Gold from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group upgraded 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, March 5th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on Barrick Gold from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.75.

Barrick Gold Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GOLD opened at $19.11 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market cap of $32.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.53, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $17.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.05. Barrick Gold Corp has a 52 week low of $15.11 and a 52 week high of $21.35.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 EPS 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program 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 buy up to 3.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 32.52%.

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.