Bank of Nova Scotia Decreases Stock Holdings in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Bank of Nova Scotia lessened its holdings in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD - Free Report) TSE: ABX by 46.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,696,415 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock after selling 4,977,627 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia owned 0.33% of Barrick Gold worth $88,316,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GOLD. FIL Ltd boosted its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 236.7% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 6,815,946 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock worth $105,692,000 after purchasing an additional 4,791,663 shares in the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 152,401 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock worth $2,362,000 after purchasing an additional 3,274 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas raised its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 252.8% in the fourth quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 86,949 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock valued at $13,477,000 after purchasing an additional 62,302 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 15.3% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,976,012 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock worth $46,124,000 after buying an additional 394,746 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Barrick Gold by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 702,023 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock worth $10,881,000 after acquiring an additional 11,662 shares during the last quarter. 62.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Barrick Gold Stock Performance

NYSE:GOLD traded up $1.35 on Friday, hitting $20.59. The stock had a trading volume of 41,724,502 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,921,418. Barrick Gold Corp has a 52-week low of $15.11 and a 52-week high of $21.35. The stock has a market cap of $35.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $18.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.92.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD - Get Free Report) TSE: ABX last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, 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 authorized a stock buyback plan 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 plans are generally a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

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 paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Barrick Gold's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on GOLD. TD Securities dropped 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 report on Thursday, February 13th. National Bank Financial upgraded Barrick Gold to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group increased their price objective on Barrick Gold from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $23.50 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Barrick Gold from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Barrick Gold currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $24.04.

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.