Raymond James Issues Positive Forecast for Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) Stock Price

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) had its price target raised by equities researchers at Raymond James from $23.00 to $23.50 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the gold and copper producer’s stock. Raymond James’ target price suggests a potential upside of 20.98% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on GOLD. 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 report on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Canada raised Barrick Gold to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. TD Securities lowered their price target on Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $21.00 to $18.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.71.

Barrick Gold Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:GOLD traded up $0.28 during trading on Monday, hitting $19.42. The stock had a trading volume of 12,553,666 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,789,118. The company has a market capitalization of $33.52 billion, a PE ratio of 15.81, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.58. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $17.85 and its 200 day moving average is $18.03. Barrick Gold has a 12 month low of $15.11 and a 12 month high of $21.35. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.46. Barrick Gold had a net margin of 16.59% and a return on equity of 6.76%. Analysts anticipate that Barrick Gold will post 1.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program 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 programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Barrick Gold in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Vega Investment Solutions bought a new position in shares of Barrick Gold in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in Barrick Gold in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in Barrick Gold during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Barrick Gold by 619.7% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 3,073 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 2,646 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

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.