Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Stifel Canada

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Stifel Canada to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports. Stifel Canada also issued estimates for Barrick Gold’s FY2028 earnings at $1.44 EPS.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on GOLD. CIBC downgraded Barrick Gold from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. TD Securities cut their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group raised shares of Barrick Gold from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Berenberg Bank lifted their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $37.00 to $38.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on Barrick Gold from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.75.

Barrick Gold Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of GOLD opened at $19.41 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.78, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 2.89 and a quick ratio of 2.15. Barrick Gold has a 1-year low of $0.25 and a 1-year high of $21.35. The company has a 50-day moving average of $17.37 and a 200 day moving average of $18.05.

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

Barrick Gold announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program 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 purchase up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 76,299,834 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $1,182,641,000 after purchasing an additional 1,563,361 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,358,533 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $1,060,036,000 after acquiring an additional 1,195,585 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 17.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 64,310,800 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $996,802,000 after acquiring an additional 9,598,292 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in Barrick Gold by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 15,318,376 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $237,280,000 after purchasing an additional 278,292 shares during the period. 62.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Barrick Gold

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.