For the second time in 2016, John Paulson (Trades, Portfolio) of Paulson & Co. has reduced his stake in Novagold Resources Inc. (NG, Financial), a Vancouver, British Columbia-based gold exploration company.
Paulson sold 2,563,543 shares for $5.41 per share on April 8, trimming his stake by more than 7%. On Feb. 11, the guru sold 100,300 shares. Paulson hasn’t added to the stake since the second quarter of 2012, when he bought more than 4 million shares.
The remaining stake of 32,952,514 shares is 10.31% of Novagold’s outstanding shares and 1.1% of Paulson’s total assets. Paulson remained Novagold’s leading shareholder among the gurus.
Among Novagold’s insiders, CEO Gregory A. Lang is the company’s leading shareholder with 1,642,953 shares. The stake is 0.51% of the company’s outstanding shares.
Novagold and Barrick Gold (ABX, Financial) of Toronto each own 50% of Alaska’s Donlin Gold Project, an undeveloped gold deposit nearly 300 miles northwest of Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city. With proven and probable reserves thought to be at 33.9 million ounces of gold, it has been estimated that Donlin Gold Project could produce 1.5 million ounces per year.
Novagold and Teck Resources (TCK, Financial) of Vancouver own 50% each of the Galore Creek copper-gold-silver project in northern British Columbia. The pre-feasibility study suggests the project has the potential to be Canada’s largest copper mine.
Novagold has a P/B of 5.5. GuruFocus gives Novagold a Financial Strength rating of 6/10 and a Profitability and Growth rating of 3/10.
Novagold sold for $5.76 per share Friday.
To view the gurus' latest stock picks, visit the Real Time Stock Picks page. Not a premium member of GuruFocus? Try it free for seven days.
