12 Best International Dividend Stocks to Buy Now

2. Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 51

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) is a Canadian mining company that produces gold and copper. In the first quarter of 2024, prices for precious metals grew by over 8% due to increased purchasing by central banks and anticipation in the market that the Feds might cut interest rates most probably in June. Gold prices are expected to grow even further mainly due to geopolitical tensions and high interest rates, which creates a favorable environment for the gold mining company. Though the company’s gold production declined to 940,000 ounces in the first quarter of 2024, versus estimates of 947,330 ounces, it still expects a gradual growth in its production throughout the year. This growth trajectory is attributed to the ramping up of operations at its Goldrush mine in Nevada and at Pueblo Viejo, in addition to the restarting of the Porgera mine in Papua New Guinea.

In 2023, Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) produced 4.05 million ounces of gold, compared with 5.4 million ounces of gold produced by its competitor, Newmont Corporation (NYSE:NEM). But does that mean NEM is more efficient than GOLD? Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)’s twelve-month trailing operating margin, which identifies its operational efficiency and profitability, is slightly higher than NEM’s at 24.54%. Though NEM produces a higher volume of gold, it has a negative profit margin of -20.33%, compared with a healthy profit margin of 12.58% for GOLD. This shows that GOLD has a healthy balance sheet as compared to NEM and does not have a higher production cost than its revenue. Moreover, GOLD has a lower debt-to-equity ratio of 14.67%, whereas NEM’s ratio is 32.5%. This shows that, while the higher volume of production may attract investors at first glance, it does not necessarily reflect a healthy balance sheet. While gold prices are presenting a solid outlook for mining companies, we believe that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as Microsoft but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stocks.

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) currently has a forward P/E ratio of 15.13. We believe this suggests that the stock is cheap given its growth prospects. The company mainly offers performance-based dividends and its current quarterly dividend comes in at $0.10 per share. With a dividend yield of 2.31% as of June 3, GOLD is one of the best dividend stocks on our list.

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) remained popular among elite funds at the end of Q1 2024, with hedge fund positions growing to 51, from 43 in the previous quarter, as per Insider Monkey’s database. The collective value of these stakes is roughly $630 million.