Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Raises Stake in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. grew its position in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD - Free Report) TSE: ABX by 79.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 125,425 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock after acquiring an additional 55,375 shares during the quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.'s holdings in Barrick Gold were worth $1,941,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 0.9% in the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 64,085 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock valued at $1,275,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. grew its holdings in Barrick Gold by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 42,973 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock valued at $855,000 after buying an additional 590 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Barrick Gold by 24.1% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,399 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 659 shares in the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 6.7% during 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 during the period. Finally, Bangor Savings Bank boosted its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 22,025 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock valued at $341,000 after acquiring an additional 956 shares during the last quarter. 62.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on GOLD shares. Stifel Canada raised shares of Barrick Gold to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. National Bank Financial raised shares of Barrick Gold to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. TD Securities lowered their price objective on Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group raised 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. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on Barrick Gold from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $23.75.

Barrick Gold Stock Down 0.2 %

GOLD traded down $0.04 on Wednesday, reaching $19.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 14,944,509 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,549,375. 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 fifty-two week low of $0.25 and a fifty-two week high of $21.35. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $17.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.03. The company has a market capitalization of $33.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.58.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD - Get Free Report) TSE: ABX last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 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, analysts forecast that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given 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 dividend yield of 2.07%. Barrick Gold's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.52%.

Barrick Gold announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the gold and copper producer to buy up to 3.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.