Oaktree Fund Advisors LLC Purchases New Stake in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Oaktree Fund Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 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 biggest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GOLD. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Barrick Gold during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,646 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 196.9% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 4,178 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 2,771 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Barrick Gold during the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake in 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 worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 2,638 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on GOLD. National Bank Financial raised Barrick Gold to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. TD Securities dropped their target price on Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America cut shares of Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $21.00 to $18.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Barrick Gold from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Barrick Gold has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.75.

Barrick Gold Price Performance

NYSE GOLD opened at $19.11 on Friday. Barrick Gold Corp has a 12 month low of $15.11 and a 12 month high of $21.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.97 billion, a PE ratio of 15.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 2.89 and a quick ratio of 2.15.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 6.76% and a net margin of 16.59%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.52%.

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

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.