Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:B) Shares Acquired by Two Sigma Investments LP

Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its holdings in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:B - Free Report) TSE: ABX by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,700,606 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock after purchasing an additional 142,697 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP owned about 0.16% of Barrick Gold worth $41,859,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Keystone Financial Group boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 753 shares in the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Barrick Gold by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 14,051 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock valued at $224,000 after acquiring an additional 880 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in Barrick Gold by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 285,355 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock valued at $4,423,000 after acquiring an additional 952 shares in the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Barrick Gold by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 30,510 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock valued at $473,000 after acquiring an additional 1,035 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Barrick Gold by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 14,909 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock valued at $231,000 after acquiring an additional 1,045 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on B shares. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from $21.00 to $17.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Barrick Gold in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. Wall Street Zen initiated coverage on shares of Barrick Gold in a research note on Monday, May 12th. They issued a "sell" rating for the company. TD Securities decreased their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued 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, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $24.05.

Barrick Gold Stock Performance

Shares of Barrick Gold stock traded up $0.41 during trading on Friday, hitting $19.08. 11,874,351 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,546,594. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.73. Barrick Gold Corp has a 52-week low of $17.41 and a 52-week high of $47.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.51, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.25.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:B - Get Free Report) TSE: ABX last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) 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 last year, the company posted $0.19 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 EPS for the current year.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued 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 2.10%. Barrick Gold's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.08%.

Barrick Gold announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the gold and copper producer to buy up to 3.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's board 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.