Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 51,848 Shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD - Free Report) TSE: ABX by 10.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 535,461 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock after buying an additional 51,848 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Barrick Gold were worth $8,299,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 221.1% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 10,027,811 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock worth $199,427,000 after purchasing an additional 6,904,934 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in Barrick Gold by 33.3% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 11,431,497 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock worth $227,524,000 after acquiring an additional 2,854,055 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Barrick Gold by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 76,299,834 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock worth $1,182,641,000 after acquiring an additional 1,563,361 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 2.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 54,712,508 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock valued at $1,088,484,000 after purchasing an additional 1,458,084 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in Barrick Gold in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $20,379,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.85% of the company's stock.

Barrick Gold Stock Up 4.0 %

Shares of NYSE GOLD traded up $0.72 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $18.45. 23,778,679 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 23,724,295. The business's fifty day moving average is $16.75 and its 200 day moving average is $18.16. 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.55.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD - Get Free Report) TSE: ABX last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.46. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 6.76% and a net margin of 16.59%. Equities research analysts predict that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share 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 buy up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.17%. Barrick Gold's payout ratio is 32.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOLD has been the topic of a number of research reports. Cibc World Mkts cut Barrick Gold from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Berenberg Bank boosted their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $37.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the company from $21.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. CIBC cut Barrick Gold from a "sector outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $17.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Barrick Gold presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $23.75.

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.