Man Group plc Reduces Position in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:B)

Man Group plc cut its position in shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:B) (TSE:ABX) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,684,049 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock after selling 128,258 shares during the period. Man Group plc’s holdings in Barrick Gold were worth $103,603,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nan Shan Life Insurance Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 9,389.9% during the 4th quarter. Nan Shan Life Insurance Co. Ltd. now owns 2,776,645 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $43,038,000 after purchasing an additional 2,747,386 shares during the period. Mmbg Investment Advisors CO. purchased a new stake in Barrick Gold in the 4th quarter valued at about $671,000. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. boosted its position in Barrick Gold by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. now owns 4,806,500 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $74,494,000 after buying an additional 144,425 shares during the period. Lionshead Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Barrick Gold in the 4th quarter valued at about $198,000. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth boosted its position in Barrick Gold by 40.8% in the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 44,211 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $685,000 after buying an additional 12,815 shares during the period. 62.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Barrick Gold Price Performance

Shares of B opened at $18.15 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $19.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.79. Barrick Gold Corp has a fifty-two week low of $17.98 and a fifty-two week high of $47.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.21 billion, a PE ratio of 14.76, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.25. 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:B) (TSE:ABX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.06. Barrick Gold had a net margin of 16.59% and a return on equity of 6.76%. The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.19 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict 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 buyback plan 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually 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, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. Barrick Gold’s payout ratio is 30.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on B. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $21.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Barrick Gold in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. National Bankshares reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Barrick Gold in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. TD Securities lowered their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Barrick Gold presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $24.05.

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.