Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:B) Shares Sold by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:B) (TSE:ABX) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 389,936 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock after selling 590 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Barrick Gold were worth $6,044,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in B. Keystone Financial Group lifted its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Keystone Financial Group now owns 56,394 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $874,000 after buying an additional 753 shares during the period. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in Barrick Gold by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 14,051 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 880 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in Barrick Gold by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 285,355 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $4,423,000 after acquiring an additional 952 shares in the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Barrick Gold by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 30,510 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $473,000 after acquiring an additional 1,035 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC increased its position in Barrick Gold by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 14,909 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 1,045 shares during the last quarter. 62.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on B shares. Stifel Canada raised Barrick Gold to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Barrick Gold from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. National Bankshares reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Barrick Gold in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Barrick Gold in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Bank of America lowered Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $18.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.05.

Barrick Gold Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:B opened at $17.82 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $19.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.77. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Barrick Gold Corp has a twelve month low of $17.48 and a twelve month high of $47.50. The company has a market cap of $30.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.49, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.25.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:B) (TSE:ABX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.06. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 6.76% and a net margin of 16.59%. The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.19 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Barrick Gold declared that its board has approved a stock buyback 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 reacquire up to 3.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The business 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.08%.

About Barrick Gold

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.