Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) Reaches New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $21.25 and last traded at $21.25, with a volume of 470037 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $20.92.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Raymond James lowered their price target on Barrick Gold from $26.50 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Argus upgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.60.

Barrick Gold Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a current ratio of 3.01.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.13 billion. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 5.53% and a net margin of 12.78%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.19 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.78%.

Institutional Trading of Barrick Gold

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GOLD. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 198.1% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,407 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 935 shares during the last quarter. Clean Yield Group bought a new stake in Barrick Gold in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in Barrick Gold in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Crewe Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Barrick Gold by 628.8% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 1,822 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,572 shares during the period. Finally, Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. bought a new position in shares of Barrick Gold during the second quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

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.