Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) is Ruffer LLP’s 5th Largest Position

Ruffer LLP grew its holdings in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) by 14.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,269,848 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock after buying an additional 1,325,119 shares during the quarter. Barrick Gold makes up about 5.7% of Ruffer LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Ruffer LLP’s holdings in Barrick Gold were worth $159,180,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Barrick Gold by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 76,299,834 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $1,182,641,000 after acquiring an additional 1,563,361 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 2.7% during 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 in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 1.7% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 33.3% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 11,431,497 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $227,524,000 after acquiring an additional 2,854,055 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 221.1% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 10,027,811 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $199,427,000 after purchasing an additional 6,904,934 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

Barrick Gold Stock Performance

Barrick Gold stock opened at $18.61 on Friday. Barrick Gold Corp has a 12-month low of $15.11 and a 12-month high of $21.35. The company has a market capitalization of $32.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.58. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $16.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.14.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46. Barrick Gold had a net margin of 16.59% and a return on equity of 6.76%. On average, research analysts forecast that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the gold and copper producer to purchase up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

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 given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America downgraded Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $21.00 to $18.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday. Cibc World Mkts lowered Barrick Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Raymond James cut their target price 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.75.

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.