Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD)

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Investors purchased 73,722 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 48% compared to the typical volume of 49,851 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GOLD shares. Berenberg Bank increased their price target on Barrick Gold from $37.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. TD Securities decreased their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America cut shares of Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $21.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, CIBC downgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Barrick Gold has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.75.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Barrick Gold

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital International Investors grew its stake in Barrick Gold by 136.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 33,293,792 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $516,055,000 after purchasing an additional 19,189,830 shares during the period. Causeway Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Barrick Gold during the fourth quarter valued at about $172,225,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Barrick Gold by 17.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 64,310,800 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $996,802,000 after buying an additional 9,598,292 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in Barrick Gold by 221.1% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 10,027,811 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $199,427,000 after acquiring an additional 6,904,934 shares during the period. Finally, FIL Ltd boosted its stake in Barrick Gold by 236.7% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 6,815,946 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $105,692,000 after acquiring an additional 4,791,663 shares during the last quarter. 62.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Barrick Gold Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE GOLD traded down $0.08 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $18.38. 18,161,720 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 23,558,969. 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 has a one year low of $15.11 and a one year high of $21.35. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $16.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.16. The company has a market cap of $31.75 billion, a PE ratio of 14.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.55.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46. Barrick Gold had a net margin of 16.59% and a return on equity of 6.76%. On average, equities analysts predict that Barrick Gold will post 1.47 EPS for the current year.

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.52%.

Barrick Gold declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the gold and copper producer to reacquire up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.