Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $23.75.

A number of research firms have recently commented on GOLD. UBS Group cut shares of Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America cut shares of Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $21.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Raymond James cut their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts cut shares of Barrick Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th.

Institutional Trading of Barrick Gold

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Barrick Gold in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 935 shares during the last quarter. Vega Investment Solutions acquired a new position in shares of Barrick Gold in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Barrick Gold in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Barrick Gold in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

Barrick Gold Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of Barrick Gold stock opened at $18.77 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.17. The company has a market cap of $32.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 0.55. Barrick Gold has a fifty-two week low of $14.27 and a fifty-two week high of $21.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.89.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46. Barrick Gold had a net margin of 16.59% and a return on equity of 6.76%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Barrick Gold will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the gold and copper producer to reacquire up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.52%.

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.