Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. Has $1.01 Million Stock Position in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) by 38.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 65,266 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,266 shares during the period. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Barrick Gold were worth $1,012,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Barrick Gold during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 619.7% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 3,073 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 2,646 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 196.9% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in Barrick Gold during the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. raised its position in Barrick Gold by 119.4% in the 4th 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

Barrick Gold Stock Down 2.3 %

GOLD stock opened at $19.11 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $17.85 and a 200-day moving average of $18.03. Barrick Gold Corp has a fifty-two week low of $15.11 and a fifty-two week high of $21.35. The company has a market capitalization 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 has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.89.

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

Barrick Gold announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the gold and copper producer to reacquire up to 3.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid 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 yield of 2.09%. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio is 32.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Securities reduced their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Canada raised shares of Barrick Gold to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. 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 note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $21.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus 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.