Proceeding to Kopernik Global Investors’ second-largest holding, Barrick Gold Corporation (USA)(NYSE:ABX). The fund made an additional purchase of 936,032 shares of the company during the second quarter to bring its total holding to around 6.18 million shares worth $65.86 million as of June 30. Shares of the gold mining company have lost almost 20% in the past month alone on the back of the recent slump seen in the price of gold. This slump also weighed on Barrick Gold Corporation (USA)(NYSE:ABX)’s second quarter results, which the company reported on August 5. Revenue for the quarter fell to $2.23 billion from the $2.46 billion the company reported for the same quarter last year. On July 30, the company announced that it has sold off its 50% stake in the Zaldivar mine in Chile to Antofagasta PLC for US$1 billion. This sale, coupled with Barrick Gold Corporation (USA)(NYSE:ABX) selling $1.85 billion worth of assets since the end of March, has been cheered by analysts, who see this as a big move towards accomplishing the goal of reducing the company’s debt by $3 billion, laid out by Barrick Gold Corporation (USA)(NYSE:ABX)’s CEO earlier this year. However, we at Insider Monkey are still cautious on the stock. The largest shareholder of Barrick Gold Corporation (USA)(NYSE:ABX) at the end of the first quarter among the hedge funds we track, Jean-Marie Eveillard‘s First Eagle Investment Management, further increased its stake in the company by 38% during the second quarter.
The purchase of almost 11 million additional shares resulted in Kinross Gold Corporation (USA)(NYSE:KGC) becoming Kopernik Global Investors’ third-largest holding at the end of the second quarter from the fifth-largest at the end of the first quarter. As of June 30, the fund owned almost 27.5 million shares of Kinross Gold Corporation (USA)(NYSE:KGC) worth $63.78 million. Similar to Barrick Gold Corporation (USA)(NYSE:ABX), the decline in gold prices also weighed heavily on Kinross Gold Corporation (USA)(NYSE:KGC)’s second quarter results, which it reported on July 29. EPS for the quarter came in at a loss of $0.01 on revenue of $755.2 million, compared to EPS of $0.03 on revenue of $911.9 million the company reported for the same quarter last year. On July 31, analysts at Citigroup reiterated their ‘Hold’ rating on the stock, while decreasing their price target to $1.90 from $2.30. Unlike Kopernik Global Investors, Jean-Marie Eveillard’s First Eagle Investment Management, which was again the largest shareholder of Kinross Gold Corporation (USA)(NYSE:KGC) at the end of the first quarter among the hedge funds we track, reduced its holdings in the company by 72% during the second quarter to 18.70 million shares.
Disclosure: None
