Lafayette Investments Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Lafayette Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 329,054 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock after buying an additional 5,105 shares during the quarter. Barrick Gold makes up about 1.5% of Lafayette Investments Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in Barrick Gold were worth $5,953,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOLD. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new stake in Barrick Gold during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Barrick Gold in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Barrick Gold in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. FWL Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Barrick Gold in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Barrick Gold in the 1st quarter worth $37,000. 62.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on GOLD shares. StockNews.com upgraded Barrick Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Barrick Gold from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Barrick Gold in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Barrick Gold in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. They set a “buy” rating and a $21.00 price objective for the company. Finally, CIBC reduced their price objective on Barrick Gold from $27.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.48.

Barrick Gold Price Performance

Shares of GOLD stock traded up $0.24 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $17.22. The company had a trading volume of 5,133,521 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,437,580. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 2.40 and a current ratio of 3.16. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $15.86 and a 200-day moving average of $16.21. The company has a market capitalization of $30.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.58, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.58. Barrick Gold Corp has a 12-month low of $13.76 and a 12-month high of $20.75.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 4.64% and a net margin of 11.16%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.13 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Barrick Gold Corp will post 0.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Barrick Gold Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 29th were given a $0.074 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.72%. Barrick Gold’s payout ratio is 55.56%.

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.